Dynamic model of tropospheric scintillation on earth-space paths

A dynamic model of tropospheric scintillation is presented which permits the generation of a scintillation time series based on known scintillation characteristics, such as spectral shape and probability density function. The model employs readily obtainable input parameters (antenna diameter, path elevation angle, frequency, ground temperature and humidity) and yields statistics that compare extremely well with existing prediction models as well as measured scintillation data (up to the fourth moment). Important applications of the new model are for simulating the performance of scintillation-degraded communication links and predicting required scintillation fade margins.