Modelling 3D Dynamic Cloud Fields to Investigate the Performance of FSO SatCom Systems

Abstract

With increasing data rate requirements on SatCom systems there is a push to use higher frequency carriers. Although free space optical communications would meet these demands, they are severely limited by the weather conditions affecting the ground stations. Therefore, it is important to model these phenomena to predict the possibility of link outages so that an appropriate fade mitigation technique can be applied. This contribution aims to extend a model in the literature (Stochastic Model of Clouds) to include the time variability of the cloud field. The temporal evolution is studied using satellite observations and is introduced into the model by inputting ERA5 data chronologically, which has been linearly interpolated to a temporal resolution of 1 minute. The new model is then used to study the effect of site diversity for the mitigation of cloud attenuation on a GEO-Earth optical link operating at $1.55 \mu \mathrm{m}$.