Propagation Considerations for Satellite Broadcasting at Frequencies Above 10 GHz

At frequencies above 10 GHz, tropospheric propagation effects can significantly alter signal transmission performance. Important phenomena on earth-satellite (slant) paths include attenuation and sky noise increases resulting from atmospheric gases, clouds, and precipitation, depolarization by raindrops and ice crystals, and refractive effects, particularly at low path elevation angles. Various practical aspects of propagation phenomena for satellite broadcasting at frequencies above 10 GHz are reviewed in this paper, with emphasis on the near-term implementation Of services at -band.