Wideband Channel Characterization for Low-Elevation Satellites in L-Band

The results of a wideband measurement campaign carried out at L-band in order to characterize the receiver end of the radio link between satellites with elevations lower than 5° and mobile receivers are summarized in this paper. A swept time-delay cross-correlation (STDCC) channel sounder with 1.675-GHz carrier frequency and 12.5-ns delay resolution was used to obtain complex low-pass impulse responses of the propagation channel in urban, suburban, rural, lightly wooded, and heavily wooded environments. Delay spreads and coherence bandwidths have been obtained and studied according to three different propagation conditions. Results show how shadowing and blockage together with the propagation environment impact on the delay spread and the coherence bandwidth.