NTIA-Report-80-40

Fading Statistics

on a 23 km Link

at 9.6 and 28.8 GHz

R. H. Ott

K. C. Allen

E. J. Violette

R. H. Espeland

M. C. Thompson, Jr.

A. R. Mitz

u.s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Philip M. Klutznick, Secretary

Henry Geller, Assistant Secretary

for Communications and Information

June 1980

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

MEASUREMENT FACILITY

MULTIPATH FADING MECHANISMS

GROUND REFLECTIONS AND ATMOSPHERIC MULTIPATH

MULTIPATH OBSERVATIONS

CONCLUSIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

iii

Page

1

1

2

6

8

10

32

35

LlST or FI.GURES

Figur,e

1 Instrumentation at BAO tower. At each. level, 3

three-axis sonic anemometers measure mean and

turbulent wind ·components. A fine platinum wire

thermometer attached to the vertical velocity

probe measures the fluctuating temperature.

Mean temperature is measured by a quartz thermometer in an aspirated shield; dewpoint temperature is monitored by a cooLed mirror hygrometer.

2 Path profile for link between Erie ~nd Radio Build- 4

ing. The profile is drawn using a true earth radius

with a vertical exaggeration of 50 to 1. The plot

on the right shows one sample of the observed refractive index profile at 0900 MDT, 26 July, 1979. Also

shown is a ray trace using the refractive index profile shown, and focusing at about 100 m above the

ground at Erie.

3 Effect of antenna size or gain on ground-reflected, 7

atmospheric induced multipath.

4 The classical radio hole. The dotted curve defines 7

the top of a ducting layer. No signal reaches an

observer in the shaded region.

5 The first Fresnel ellipse that just grazes the ridge 9

occurs for a transmitting antenna height of 110 m,

9.6 GHz and a 4/3 earth's radius. 3-dB beamwidths

for parabolic transmitting and receiving antennas

also shown.

6 Time series for 9.6 GHz, 28.8 GHz horn, 28.8 GHz 12

dish starting at 1010 and ending at 1036, July 26,

1979. Carriage at 217 m. E{9.6 GHz}~-2.67 dB,

E{28.8 GHz dish}~-9.06 dB, E{28.8 GHz horn}~-10.262

dB, a 2 ( 9 . 6 GHz)~1.93 dB2 , 0 2 ( 28 . 8 GHz dish)~25.76

dB2 , 0 2 (28 . 8 GHz horn)~23.19 dB2 • O-dB corresponds

to free space.

7a Scatter plot for 28.8 GHz horn and dish signals 13

on July 26, 1979, corresponding to time series in

Figure 6. The origin corresponds to free space.

7b Scatter plot for 9.6 GHz dish and 28.8 GHz dish 14

signals on July 26, 1979 corresponding to time

series in Figure 6. The origin corresponds to

free space.

8 Scatter plot for the 28.8 GHz horn and dish signals 15

for a subset of the time period-shown in Figure 7a.

The scatter plot is shown d.i.vLded into two clusters

to test a hypothesis.

v
Figure

9

10

11

12

13a

13b

14

15a

ISb

16

17a

17b

18

19a

19b

Time series for the 28.8 GHz horn and dish signals

in Fi,gure 8 assuming' tw'o clusters of points.'

Height~gain runs for 9.6 GHz, 28.8 GHz horn and

28~,8 GHz dish on July 26, 1979. '1 sample/sec.

cr· 2 C9 . 6 GHzl~~ll.47 dB2 , 0·2 C2 8 . 8 GHz horn)~7.26 dB 2 ,

0. 2 (28 .. 8GHz d.i.ahleL? , 69 6dB2 ..

First Fresnel zone for transmitter at 80 m above

the ground at the BAD tower. Profile drawn using

4/3 earths effective radius.

He±ght-gain runs for 9.6, 28.8 GHz horn and 28.8

GHz dish signals at 1407 MDT, July 26, 1979.

Spatial correlation of 28.B GHz horn and 28.8 GHz

dish signals from 0722:00 to 0727:59 on 7/26/79.

Spatial correl~tion of 28.8 GHz dish and 9.6 GHz

horn signals from 0722:00 to 0727:59 on 7/26/79.

Height-gain runs starting at 0800 and ending at

0817 on 7/26/79. 1 sample/sec. 0 2(9.6 GHz)~8.43

dB 2, 0 2(28.8 GHz horn}~12.07 dB 2, 0 2(28.8 GHz dish)

~6.38 dB 2 •

Spatial correlation of 28.8 GHz horn versus 28.8

GHz dish for 0802:22 to 0808:16 on 7/26/79.

Spatial correlation of 9.6 GHz dish versus 28.8

GHz dish from 0802:22 to 0808:16 on 7/26/79.

Height-gain runs for 9.6 GHz, 28.8 GHz horn and

28.8 GHzdish from 0830:10 to 0850:46 on 7/26/79.

1 sec. samples. 02(9 .. 6GHz)~5.58dB2, cr 2 ( 28 . 8 GHz

horn)~13000 dB 2 , 0 2 ( 28 . 8 GHz dish)~17.92 dB 2.

Spatial correlation for 28.8 GHz horn versus 28.8

GHz dish £romn832:25 to 0838:16 on 7/26/79.

Spatial correlation for 9.6 GHz dish versus 28.8

dish from 0832:25 to 0838:16 on 7/26/79.

Height-gain runs starting at 0855:20 and ending at

0912:51 on 7/26/79. 1 sample/sec. 0. 2(9.6 GHz)

~8.93 dB 2 , 0 2(28.8 GHz horn)~6.13 dB 2, 0 2(28.8 GHz

dish)~6.94 dB 2.

Spatial correlation of 28.8 GHz horn with 28.8

GHz dish for 0857:22 to 0903:l6 on 7/26/79.

Spatial correlation of 9.6 GHz dish with 28.8

GHz dish for 0857:22 to 0903:16 on 7/26/79.

vi

~ase

l6

18

19

21

22

23

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

33

34
'r'a,ge

Bl. Ti,me aeri.e a for 9.1 GHz s LqnaLvover 22.8 km path 42

near H.aswell in southeastern, Colorado, 3/8/66.,

E{9'.1 GHz'}~-13 ·dB 2,0·2Cg·.l GHz'J~'l26 dB 2 • From

Fig. 6, R. E. McGavin, H. T. Dougherty,·C. B.

Emmanua.l, Microwave Diversity Over Irregular

Terrain, ESS'A TM, ERLTM~WPL3, December, '1968.

B2. Time series for 8.1 GHz signal over 50- km Boone- 43

Fowler path, 8/2/79. E{8.1 GHz}=-lO dB. rr2(8.1

G'Hz) ~9 dB 2 • From Fig. 7, W. J. Hartman, D. Smith

(l975), Tilting antennas to reduce line-of-sight

microwave link fading, Report No. FAA-RD-75-38,

February, Prepared for U. S. Dept. of Transportation, FAA, Systems Research and Development

Service, Washington, D. C. 20590.

B3 Ray trace for Purdown-Pen Hill path assuming a 44

normal atmosphere with surface refractivity of

330 Nunits.

B4 Time series for 19.1 and 25.4 GHz signals over 45

64 km path in Hawaii, 9/13/71. E{19.l GHz}=-16

dB, 0 2 (1 9 . 1 GHz)=9 dB 2 , E{25.4 GHz}=-12 dB,

0 2 ( 25 . 4 GHz)=11.5 dB 2 • From Fig. 6, M. C. Thompson,

Jr., Lockett E. Wood, Harris B. Janes, Dean Smith,

(1975), Phase and Amplitude Scintillations in the

10 to 40 GHz Band, IEEE Trans. Ant. and, Prop.,

Vol. AP-23, No.6.

vii

FADING STATISTICS ON A 23 km LINK AT 9.6 AND 28.8 GHz

R. H. ott, K. C. Allen*, E. J. Violette, R. H. Espeland,

M. C. Thompson, Jr., and A. R. Mitz

An experimental study of atmospheric multipath on a

23 km link at 9.6 and 28.8 GHz near Boulder, Colorado, is

described. The preliminary observations were made for

thre~ days in July 1979 when a strong inversion layer

was present, creating an elevated tropospheric duct. The

possible influence of antenna aperture size on atmospheric multipath was investigated by observing fades

and enhancements on the 28.8 GHz carrier using a 10 0

horn and a 1.2 0 parabolic dish. Continuous height-gain

observations were obtained using the 300 m. tower at

Erie, Colorado, as one end of the link. Meteorological

data at the tower were also recorded during observation

periods of the radio signal.

Key Words: atmospheric multipath, fading, micromillimeter wave, refractivity structure

1. INTRODUCTION

Present interest in using high-speed digital transmission of

information has precipitated the need for understanding the mechanisms responsible for fading. This paper describes initial fading

data on a 22.8 km link from the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory

(BAO) at Erie, Colorado, to the U. S. Department of Commerce Radio

Building in Boulder, Colorado.

In order to characterize a radio channel, which has known coherent bandwidth properties for no multipath, the amplitude and delay

of each of the multipath components needs to be measured. Techniques

for estimating the parameters in a channel characterized by three

paths or rays hav~ been described in the literature. One technique

requires several thousand scans of the power spectrum. Each scan

consists of a power measurement at each of several frequencies

separated sufficiently to define the passband and at the same time

of sufficient number to define the characteristics of the channel

within the passband. It appears that RummIer's method is well suited

for investigating the multipath phenomena produced by three-ray fades.

Unfortunately, instrumentation for making the power scans required was

not available at the time these observations were being performed.

*Boulder Experimental Studies Institute, Boulder, Colorado 80302.

The rest of the authors are with the U. S. Department of Commerce

Nati?nal Telecommunications and Information Administration '

Instltute for Telecommunication Sciences, Boulder, Colorad~ 80303.
However; spatial and temporal observations of fades at two harmonically related frequencies, did show interesting lobing, characteristic

of multipath. We hope to convince the reader this lobing resulted

from two or more rays reaching the receiver without suffering ground

.refLect Lonsr i.e., purely atmospheric multipath. We claim that the

observed multipath was caused by trapping of the radio energy within

an elevated duct in the atmosphere formed by an inversion layer. We

will try to support this assertion on the basis of fading data from

three days in late July, 1979. The preliminary results presented in

this report .suqqes t; that the uni.que measurement facility may contribute

towards the understanding of atmospheric multipath and testing of the

3-ray model~

2. MEASUREMENT FACILITY

The BAG tower at Erie, located 25 km east of the Rockies on

gently rolling terrain, is a unique facility for calibrating meteorological instruments and remote sensors and for studying the planetary

boundary layer. The BAD is operated by the Wave Propagation Laboratory

(WPL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

U. S. Department of Commerce.

The cent~al feature of the BAG is a 300'm tower. It is instrumented at 'eight fixed levels with fast-response anemometry and thermometry for measuring both turbulent and mean properties of the

boundary-layer airflow. Instruments on each level also provide

humidity information. A two-man elevator inside the tower provides

access to the fixed instrumentation levels. Amovable carriage on

the tower's southwest face, able to carry up to 1000 kg of equipment, permits continuous profiling or fixed-level operation at any

desired he.i.qht .

Acoustic echo sounders, optical anemometry,and an array of J/

sensitive microbarographs complete the standard instrumentation (cf.

Figure l). A computer in a van at the base of the tower now handles

the data acquisition. A calibration facility consisting of a small

wind tunnel and constant-temperature bath is also available.

-2-
Figure 1. Instrumentation at BAO tower. At each level, threeaxis sonic anemometers measure mean and turbulent wind

components. A fine platinum wire thermometer attached

to the vertical velocity probe measures the fluctuating

temperature. Mean temperature is measured by a quartz

thermometer in an aspirated shield; dewpoint' temperature

is monitored by a cooled mirror hygrometer.

The path profile for the BAO-Radio Building path is shown in

Figure 2. A unique feature of the path is that even under conditions

where atmospheric refraction may cause a ground-reflected component,

this ray component may be blocked from reaching the antenna 'at the

Radio Building because of the knife-edge-like obstruction at Hoover

Hill. We will try to support this statement with observed data later

in the report.

Frequencies of 9.6 and 28.8 GHz were investigated. The approach

was to use a 100 MHz Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscillator (VCXO) to

drive a multiplier-amplifier to provide 11.4 mW (10.6 dBm) at 9.6

GHz. This signal was multiplied by three and used to injection lock

Varian Gunn effect diode source that provided 83 roW (19.2 dBm) at

28.8 GHz.

The two transmit antennas, located on the tower at Erie, were a

parabo~ic dish at 9.6 GHz having a 3-dB beamwidth of 4.8° and a

horn at 28.8 GHz having a 3-dB beamwidth of 10°. The three receive

antennas, located on the roof of wing 4 of the Radio Building at

Boulder, w~re a parabolic dish at 9.6 GHz having a 3-dB beamwidth of

1.7° and two antennas at 28.8 GHz, one parabolic dish having a 3-dB

beamwidth of 1.2° and a horn having a 3-dB beamwidth of 10°. The

two receive antennas were used at 28.8 GHz to investigate the effect

of antenna beamwidth on multipath fading.

-3-
I

o

RADIO BLDG

surface

refractivity

=278 Nunits

350

~-40N units/km

'"

#'II -350 ,N units/km

.f ' duct

, t hi ckness

100 m

-50 Nunits/km

,

250 300

-E RIE

. . .. . .' ... .' .'.... .'.' .

.... .'.. .' .' - .' .' .'.... .... ..'. .'. .' .' .'. .' .' .'. .. .' .'.--- .' .' .' _. ... .' .' .' '. -'. .' . .- ' .'...' '.' - _ ..... 2'0

:.

. .-. ~.' .:. :.~.: . . ..........

. . :::::::::.

...... ..........

::::::::::

..........

..'..'••• 6t. _.. - .- . 1'5

·.:--:. ·.... ..... · . ·...... ' ' · . ..... '.... · . . :::::. · . . .'.' .... :::::::

........ . . ·-_. _. ...

H II

10 I

5

.

.. .:::: · . · . · - . ....... . ·........ . . .... ·......... '.'... ..' - . .' '.' .' ." . .' :................. .' . :: ::::::::::::::::::::: :: ::::::. :~ ::::::;:~:~:::::~:::: :: ::::::~::r...•

:..:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:::. :..:.:.:.:.:::.: .' .' '. .'. .: :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: .: :.:::.:.:.:.:. ,_ •:: : :::::::::::r:::::::: :::::•::::::::::

:.:••:.:.:.:.:.;.:.:8:.:. :••:.:.:.:.:.:.:

::::.::::::::::::::::::::::.::::::::::::::::: •••••••••••••••••• e •••••••••••••••••••••••••••

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:::::.:.:.:.:.:.:.:. •............•...............................

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:::.:.:.:.:.:.:::.:

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. : : . :::i:;:;::!:!:!:!:·!·!·!·!~!·!·!·!·!·!·~:!·~·~·

'. -

••••••• :':':':'-'. .'.....' '. .!••••• ' '. . '. · ' '. ·· ' '. ' '. · ' '. '. .' '. '. .' '. '..' '. '. .' '. '..' '. :. -: :. .' ..... .' '..' · '.. .' . .' . .' . .' . .' . ::=:::::

::::::::

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····......

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···

··········.. .'.

·

• •...fl - •

· . 4) • • • · . · . · . · . · . .'.. .. ·.- .

·

···

····

··:."

·.·..- . ··

····

· 1500~'

···

1800

IE

C

Q

...,

ca

>

a)

w

I

I

Di stance (km)

Path profile for link between Erie and Radio Buildina. J The

drawn using a true earth radius with a vertical exaggeration of 50 to I.

The plot on the right shows one sample of the observed refractive index

profile at 0900 MDT, 26 July, 1979. Also shown is a ray trace using the

refractive index profile shown, and focusing at about 100 m above the

ground at Erie.

Figure 2.
A link power budget is given by

PR= 10 10910 P t + GT + GR

-LA - LT - LR - 32.45

where

LA = loss due to water vapor absorpt.ion CdB) :(5% relative humidity)

LT = transmission line loss at transmitter (dB)

LR= transmission line loss at receiver (dB)

Pt = transmitted power (mW)

GT = transmitting antenna gain (dB)

GR = receiving antenna gain (dB)

d = path distance (km)

f = frequency (MHz).

The last term of equation (1) is the constant resulting from the

5 units for kilometers and megahertz and is given by 10 lo910(3xlO krn/

sec/16TI 2x10 6 MHz) = -32.45

At 9.6 GHz (1) gives

PR(dBm) - 10.6 + 30.0 + 38.6 -27.2 -79.6 -0.2

- 0.5 -0.5 -32.45

- -61.2

At 28.8 GHz (1) gives for the parabolic receiving antenna

PR (dBm) - 19°. 2 + 26 • 2 + 42 • 1 - 27 • 2 - 89 • 2 - 0 • 4 - 2- 2 - 32 • 45

- -65.7

At 28.8 GHz (1) gives for the horn receiving antenna

PR(dBm) - 19.2 + 26.2 + 26.2 -27.2 -89.2 -0.4 -2-2 -32.45

- -81.6

The signal-to-noise ratio (S!N) of the receiver, is determined by the

first stage rf mixer, and is given by

SiN = PR(dBW) - mixer conversion loss (dB) - 10 10g1 0(l<TB) (2)

where

T = (NF -1) 290 0 K

-23 k = 1.38 x 10 joules/degree

-5-
and Np is the noise figure of the mixer. The bandwidth, B, was

2 kHz. At 9.6 GHz, NF = 10 dB and (2} gives

SiN - -91.2 -10 + 161.4

- 60 dB.

At 28.8 GHz, B was 5 kHz and NF was 6 dB (Note, normally the noise

figtire would be higher at the higher frequency, however, the quality

of the mixer was much better at 28.8 GHz than 9.6 GHz). For the

parabolic receiving antenna (2) gives

SiN - -95.7 -6 + 162.2

- 60.5 dB

and for the horn antenna at 28.8 GHz (2) gives

SiN - -111.6 -6 + 162.2

- 44.6 dB

3. MULTIPATH FADING MECHANISMS

In this section some background is given on the various

meteorological mechanisms affecting a radio wave. Much of the discussion in this section is given in a report by Hufford et ale

(1975 OT Tech. Memo 75-196, Radio propagation to the bffshore extended

area, limited distribution) together with many examples. The number

of references that deal with this subject is so large we will not even

begin to try to list them all. We will, however, give in the bibliography ~ome indication of those papers and reports that have been

helpful during this investigation. 'Under, so-called "standard" conditions the atmosphere is turbulent, well-mixed, and its refractive

index decreases rather uniformly with height above the earth's surface.

However, under certain meteorological conditions, layers are formed

in the atmosphere producing gr-adients in the refractive index

profile as a function of height. These layers may be caused by

differences in temperature or water vapor content. This gives rise

to the phenomena of multipath and radio holes.

When strong superrefractionoccurs in an atmospheric layer,

radio waves are "trapped" or guided along the layer and t.he layer

is referred to as an atmospheric duct. Th.e signal fading under pUL.~

circumstances is strongly depende.nt on the heights of the, transmitter

and receiver.

-6-
When the atmospheric conditions pr-oduce .refl.ections from an

elevated layer or when ground-reflec'tions are p.reserrt; t.wo or more

rays may reach the receiving terminal and 'in.te·r·fere construct.ively

or destructively. In these cases the ~adiation pattern of the

receiving antenna together with its h~ight and pointing may play a

critical role in the level of the received signal. The effect of

antenna aperture on atmospheric-induced ground-ref'lected multipath

is illustrated in Figure 3.

If the transmitter is above an atmospheric layer, a "radio

hole" may be observed. This phenomenon is a diffraction interference

mechanism much like knife-edge diffraction. Figure 4 shows an

illustration of a radio hole (from Hufford et al.) The importance

of layers in this paper leads us to adopt definitions of descriptive

terms for layer intensity as given in Table I.

Receiving Antenna Patterns

Direct Ray

Figure 3. Effect of antenna size or gain on ground-reflected,

atmospheric induced multipath.

... .... ...

Source

x---------~~............---~-........_:~rrrr",.",.".,,~"'ITn"fTTTrrr_--- ......

Figure 4. The classical radio hole. The dotted curve defines

the topaf a ducting layer. No signal reaches an

observer in the shaded region.

-7-
TABLE I

Descriptive terms for layer intensity C~rom Hufford et al.)

Descriptive Term

Subrefractive

Normal

Superrefractive

Ducting

Extreme ducting

Vertical Gradient of Refractivity

N-units/km

> 0

- 40

< - 80

< -157

< -314

4~ GROUND REFLECTIONS AND ATMOSPHERIC MULTIPATH

~le will use the term "diffraction interference" in this report

to include the fades observed in radio holes as well as the enhancements observed near ray caustics. The lobing of the signal when

observing atmospheric multipath can be caused by two or more rays interferring constructively qr destructively or by a radio hole where the

ray density becomes small and the variation in field strength appears

like classical knife-edge diffraction. Figure 5 shows the path profile and the lower half of the first Fresnel ellipse such that the

ellipse just grazes the ridge assuming an effective earth's radius of

4/3. For the geometry in Figure 5, the contribution from the direct

ray is 180 0 out of'phase with the ray'reflected from the top of the

ridge where the ellipse grazes the ridge. As the transmitter at the

BAO tower is lowered so that the line-of-sight (direct) ray just grazes

the ridge, the received signal will drop 6 dB below the free-space

value.

Also shown in Figure 5 are the 3-dB beamwidths for the transmitting and receiving parabolic ant~nnas. The transmitting and

receiving horn antennas illuminate practically all the ground between

the transmitter and receiver's terminals. However, Hoover Hill, in

Figure 5 must prohibit some ground reflected paths from reaching the

r eceLvLnq antenna.

-8-
1800

1750

1700

E 1650 '-'"

c:

.2

+-

c

I >

\.0

Q) 1600

I w

1550

1500

83 dB (9.6 GHz) ISII Dish

83 dB (9.6 GHz) 4' Dish

83dB (28.8 GHz) 2' Dish

1450

o

RADIO BLDG.

5 10

Distance (krn)

15 22.8

ERIE

Figure 5. The ~irst Fresnel ellipse that ju~t grazes the ridge occurs

for a transmitting antenna height of 110 ro, 9.6 GHz and a

4/3 earth's radius. 3-dBbeamwidths for parabolic transmitting and receiving antennas also shown.
5. MULTIPATH OBSERVATIONS

Along with the three components of the wind, the BAO tower has

provisions for measuring the temperature and dew point temperature

at the heights 10, 20, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 m above the

ground. One- or ten-minute samples are available. Using the observed

re~ractivity structure at 0900 MDT, July 26, 1979, Figure 2 shows a

ray trace from ,the Radio Building to Erie. Remember, the transmitter

was actually at Erie so the reader should think~of placing the transmitter about 100 m above the ground at the BAD tower (i.e., where the

rays coalesce) for the unobstructed direct ray to reach the receiver.

The refractivity structure shown in Figure 2 'corresponds to a 1,0-

minute sample. The time required to make an ascent and descent was

about 6 minutes. The temporal stability of the refractive index

structure during these height gain runs was checked by sampling the

temperature and dew point temperatures at five I-minute intervals and

the results were nearly identical to the IO-minute samples. The

gradient in Figure 2 of -350 N-units/km is well within the definition

of an "extreme duct" in Table I. The refractivity structure at midpath may be different than at the BAO tower. Although information on

refractivity structure was not available at other points along the

path layering tends to be somewhat uniform over a region of this

size, and this assumption will be made for the purpose of this paper.

In the fading data which follows it may help the reader to recall the

ray trace in Figure 2 showing the possibility of caustics or radiQ holes.

Fading data is presented in two forms: 1) time series for the

received signal'with the carriage at the BAO tower at a fixed height

of 217 m and 2) height~gain runs. Explanations for the fades or

enhancements are only conjectures at this point and much more research

is required before one can explain all the features in a particular

observed signal. An additional word of caution concerns the range of

fades with the tower at a fixed height. Our observations show fades

in the 5- to 10-dB range. These are probably associated with the

random motions of the atmosphere caused by turbulent eddies on the top

or bottom side of the tropospheric' duct. They are not of the 20-dB

variety that cause severe outages in millimeter wave links. Large

fades at 25-30 dB were observed on the height-gain runs.

-10-
Fi.gure 6 shows time series for the rece.ived 9. 6 GHz.,28. 8 GHz

horn and 28.8 GHz dish signals starting at 1010 ·and ending at ~036,

July 26, 1979" with the carriage at a f Lxed heLqht; 'of 217m. Th.e

greatest variability (i.e., about 8 dB) in the signal occurred between

1025 and 1035.

In Figures 7a and 7b we show the scatter plot for this time

period. In Figures 6 and 7, th~received signals have an absolute

calibration; i.e., O-dB corresponds to the free-space signal strength.

It is rather curious that the 28.8 GHz horn signal never reached the

free-space value while the 28.8 GHz dish signal did. This is

opposite to what one would normally expect taking into consideration

the respective beamwidths. In Figure 7a, the correlation between the

28.8 GHz horn and dish signals is 0.58. Therefore about one-third

the variance in the 28.8 GHz horn signal is associated with the 28.8

GHz dish signal. Also, in Figure 7a, the received signals are seen

to be clustered into two sets. In order to study this effect in more

detail, we divided the t\AIO clusters in Figure 7a as shown in Figure 8.

The two clusters in Figure 8 represent unexpected results from a fading mechanism. The time series corresponding to Figure 8 is replotted

in Figure 9 where the cluster, above the' line in Figure 8 is shown

as a heavy_trace and the one below the line asa light trace. The

dish signal in Figure 9seerned to remain at a constant level (aside

from scintillations about the mean) while the horn signal increased

at about 1025. The division into two clusters was caused bya relatively long term signal variation while the scatter (scintillation)

within each cluster was caused by the short term signal variation.

This would point to two different mechanisms being present. For

example turbulence plus ducting.

Recently, much of the concern with multipath degradation has

focused on a 3-ray model. Analysis of Bell Telephone Laboratory data

has shown that two of the paths have an extremely small delay (i.e.,

a small fraction of a bit duration but comparable with the period of

the carrier frequency) but tend to cancel each other leavi~g a signal

level determined by athirdc ray with a relatively long delay (i.e.,

comparable with the bit d.uration or several bit durations)... A 3-ray

model for multipath is

ret) = 1 + a 1 ( t } e x p [ i 81 ( t } ] + a 2 ( t } e x p [ i 8 2 (t } ] ,

-11-

(3)
-30,10

9. 6 caz dish

28.8 GHz horn

10

0

~:: I

-30,10

0

-10

-20

t:Q

'"d

'-

ro

c

tJ1

-ri"

(J)

"J ro

OJ tv :>" I -ri

(J)

0

(J)

p:::

1010 1020 "lO.30 1036

28.8 GHz dish

o

-10

-20 l

-30 l'---__- __-

Figure 6. Time series for 9.6 GHz, 28.8 GHz horn, 28.8 GHz dish starting at 1010

and ending at 1036, July 26, 1979. Carriage at 217 m. E{9.6 GHz}

-2.67 dB, E{28.8 GHz dish} -9.06 dB, E{28.8 GHz horn} -10.262 dB,

0 2 ( 9 . 6 GHz) 1.93 dB 2 , 0 2 ( 2 8 . 8 GHz dish) 25.76 dB 2 , 0 2 ( 2 8 . 8 GHz

horn) 23.19 dB 2 • O-dB corresponds to free space.
28.8 GHz dish

5

-10 -5

....

.-.

o

-5

-10

+5

28.8 GHz horn

Figure 7a,. Scatter plot for 28.8 GHz horn and dish

signals on July 26, 1979, correspond{ng

to time series in Figure 6. The origin

corresponds to free space.

-13-
28.8 GHz dish

5

-10 -5 o

5

5

9.6 GHz dish

Figure 7b. Scatter plot for 9.6 GHz dish and 28.8 GHz

dish signals on July 26, 1979 corresponding

to time series in Figure 6. The origin

corresponds to free space.

-14-
5 .......------......----.......---..-------......----,..---,

. +- y = x + 2 .

.

.. . .

.

o

'U

"--" -5

r-f

co

s::

tJ)

-M

fJl

. .c:' . U1

-r-l

ro -10

N

::r:

o

co

co

N

-1 a:;..a--....----..--------+------~......~.....-........~-.... -15 ~lO -5 o 5

28.8 GHz horn signal (dBl

Figure 8. Scatter plot for the 28 .. 8 GHzh.orn and

dish signals for a subset of the time

period shown in Figure 7a. The scatter

plot is shown divided into two clusters,

to test a hypothesis.

-15-
28.8 GHz Horn

-10

-5

oI I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~I I I I I I I I I

m

"'0

......."

o

c

C'

en

-5

-gCD I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

=- -15 I I I I I 1.1

I--'lEOQ. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I '"I «

-10

28.8 GHz Dish

1015 1020 1025 1030 1035

-15' I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II

1010 '

Time

Figure 9. Time series for the 28.8 GHz horn and dish signals in

Figure 8 assuming two clusters of points.
where r ttl is the' .reoei.ved s i.qnaL, W'hen .t.he s LqriaL Ls in the state

or cluster above .t.he line in F~gu,re 8, .we~ hypot.hasi.ae 'the, '2nd two

multipath rays in (3) cancel and t.hevhoxn and d Lsh see the 'same s~gnal.

When the signal is in the 'state or cluste~below the line in Figure 8,

we hypothesize that the,3r'd multipath 'component in ,,(3 I' ; ~.e., a 2

arrives at an angle outside the' '3-dB beamwidth 'of the 28.8 GHz dish

but within the 3-dB beamwidth 'of the '28.8 GH'z'horn antenna. Si'nce

the 28.8 GHz dish signal in Figure 9 did notcha~ge state, we assume

that the 2nd multipath component in ('3); i.e., a 1 is small. The

quantities 8

1 and 8 2 in (3) are the path differences between the

direct and 2nd and 3r'd multipath components and their vaz-Lat.Lon may

be small 'compared to the electric-al wavelength, which in our example

is approximately 1 em. This may explain why the signal remains in a

particular state for relatively long periods of time. The model

in (3) also covers the possible case where a 1 and a 2 are nearly equal

in magnitude and 6

1 and 82 are 180° 'out of phase; and in addition,

the dish could receive the direct plus 2nd multipath component but

not the 3rd multipath component. This set of circumstances would

cause the 28.8 GHz dish signal to drop in going from one state to the

next while the 28.8 GHz horn signal would remain constant. The 3-ray

model for atmospheric multipath does not account for diffraction effects

associated with radio holes or antiholes. Diffraction effects need

to be examined using a full wave type of solution (Hufford, et al.,

1975) .

In Figure 10 we show height-gain runs for the received signals

as the carriage made ascents and descents on the BAO tower from

0722 MST to 0737 MST, July 26, 1979. The signals in Figure 10 have

an absolute calibration; i.e., 0 dB corresponds to the free-space

signal level. The time for an ascent or descent was about 6 min.

The velocity of the carriage is about 0.58 m/sec. The height-gain

runs for ascent and descent in Figure 10 are offset 20 dB 'from one

another for clarity. First Fresnel zone clearance at Hoover Hill

occurs with the carriage about 110 m above the, ground. The enhancements in the fields as the carriage passed thro~ghthis height can

be seen in FLgure 10. The field 6 dB down from its free-space

value gives the location of optical gr~zing which is about 90 m

above the ground. Figure 'II shows the 'first Fresnel' zone with the

-17-
9.6 GHz DISH 28.8 GHz HORN 28.8 GHz DISH

Carriage Position for

Optical Grazing of

Hoover Hill.

o

ASCENT DESCENT

- 30 -20 -iO

-20 -10 0

o

ASCENT DESCENT

- 30 -20 -10

-20 -10 0

o

ASCENT DESCENT

. 1'1-170

N units/km

-30 -20 -10

-20 -10 0

Carriage Position for

First Fresnel Zone

Clearance of

Hoover Hill.

j I 'j5 P I '2;t =1' ~~

50

250

300

E.......

....,

..c:

.2'

Q)

:I:

CD

0'

o

...

...

o

o

I

ex>

I

Figure 10.

Normalized SignaI, I E/Eo I ,(dB)

Height~gain runs fOF 9.6 GHz, 28.8 GHz horn and 28.8 GHz dish on July 26, 1979.

1 sample/sec. 0 2 ( 9 . 6 GHz) 11.47 dB 2 , 0 2 ( 28 . 8 GHz horn) 7.26 dB 2 ,

0

2 ( 2 8 . 8 GHz dish) 17.696 dB 2 • Starting tirnefor ascent was 0722:00.
1800

1750

1700

,,-....

5 1650

c:

.~+-

C

I

>

I-'

Q)

\.0

W

I

1500

1450

o

RADIO BLDG.

5 10

Distance (krn)

15 22.8

ERIE

:Fj:..gure 11 .. first Fresnel zone tor transmitter at 80 m above the ground

at the BAO tower. Profile drawn using 4/3 earths effective

radius.
transmitter at 80 m and the path profile drawn using a 4/3 effective

earths radius. The 28.8 GHz dish signal in the height range 80-110 m

appears somewhat too high above the free-space value. However, several

calibration checks failed to uncover any discrepancy. The fades and

enhancements at a height of about 170 m on ascent are the result of the

"extreme ducting" conditions that existed causing the fields to enhance

and fade on either side of this deep radio hole. Signal variations

with height of nearly 30 dB are observed in this height region. The

28. 8 GHz .sLqnaL went through 3 cycles of lobing while the 9.6 GHz signal

went through 1 cycle during the ascent through the 170 m height. The

location of this interference phenomena on descent seemed to occur at

about 180 m indicating some upward shift in the layer height as a function of time. The layer only has to move about 24 m to produce a halfwavelength change in a multipath ray reflected at midpath at 28.8 GHz.

We claim the results in Figure 10 correspond to the existence of a

radio hole. On either side of the radio hole the field will enhance

corresponding to the wave diffracting energy around the edges of the

hole into the hole. In the hole itself the field is quite small. These

features fit the observations in the region where the duct exists (i.e.

100-200m in Figure 10). Also, the field will fall and rise at rates

which incr~ase with freguencyand this effect is observed in Figure 10

as well. In the r.adi.o hole the density of rays goes to zero.

In Figure 12, we show height-gain runs for the 9.6, 28.8 GHz

horn and 28.8 GHz dish signals at 1407 MDT on July 26, 1979. During

this time period wheri the atmosphere has returned to a well-mixed

condition, the signal strength has 5 dB variations caused by scattering from the turbulent eddies and large fades or enhancements were

not present. Figure 12 also shows the absence of multipath caused

by possible ground reflections and adds support to our claim of no

ground multipath.

Figures l3a and 13b show spatial correlation of the 28.8 GHz

horn and 28.8 GHz dish and 28.8 GHz dish and 9.6 GHz dish respectively. These Figures correspond to the height-gain runs in Figure 10.

In Figure l3a, the 28.8 GHz horn and dish correlation is offset about

1 lag (3 m) horizontally. The offset in the maximum correlation from

zero lag in Figure 13a may correspond to a cross wind moving the

refractivity structure horizontally. The spatial correlation in

-20-
~~--

I

N

I-'

I

100 150 200 250 300

ASCENT .,

CARRIAGE HEIGHT (m)

300 250 200 150

I~ DESCENT -1

Fi,gure 12. Height-gain runs for 9.6, 28_8 GHz horn and 28.8 GHz

dish signals at 1407 MDT, July 26, 1979.
-20

max 0.68-+

l.O

.5

o

-~5

CRCSS-CCRR£LATtDN

1ST VAR1ABL£-2B.BSH2 HRN

2ND VARIABL£-2B.BSH2 ~5H

• Dr Frs US~D- J6D

NUMBER Dr LASS- 36

STRRT rlM£.ei 26 e1 21 ZZ

STOP rIME' ~I 25 1 3S Jm

VOLTMETER aSlJ2R

TR166ER PERIOD- t 5EC

5RHPL£ P£R'C~. 1.88B S£~

NUHB£R Dr SAMPLES- 22sa

20

meters

Figure l3a. spatial correlation of 28.8 GHz horn and 28.8 GHz

dish signals from 0722:00 to 0727:59 on 7/26/79.

-22-
Figure l3b.

l.O

CROSS-CORRELATIDN

1ST VARIRBLE=9.6GHZ

2ND VARJABLE=2B.86HZ P5H • OF PTS USED- 36m

NUMBER Dr LAGS= 36

START TIME-S7 26 B7 21 em

STep TIME· B7 26 7 39 3~

VOLTMETER BSB2R

TRIGGER PERIOD- I 5E~

SRMPLE P£RIDP- I.eea SE~

NUMBER Dr SRMPLES- 22~B

max 0.0

-.5

Spatial correlation of 28.8 GHz dish and 9.6 GHz horn

signals from 0722:00 to 0727:59 on 7/26/79.

-23-
Figure 13a gives some ~nsight into antenna .~el?arat;Lon tope .u~ed ;in

space diversity. The apat.Lal, distance Ln rigu.re l3a ;E~Qm peak co;t;,x:elat.Lcn to minimum cor.rel.ation. is about 10.m. Th~s would.. be an opt.Lmum

separation forvertica.l spaced"ive·rsit.y f·o·rthis part.Lcul ar' data set.

Figure 14 showsthehei'ght-gai~runs for ascent and descent

starting at 0802~22and endi~g at bS17:l8 on 7/26/79. The 0 dB point

correspbnds to the free-space 'signal strength~ For carriage heights

greater than~he height corresponding to th~ first Fresnel. zone

clearance of aoover Hill (i.e., 110 m) the greatest signal variations

occurred in the height range 160 to 210 m. In thisheight~gain

region the 9.6 GHz and 28.8 GHz signals faded and enhanced at the

same heights indicating the duct was "cut-off" for the dominant .mode

at 9.6 GHz but supported the higher-order mode in Figure 14 having

two full cycles of lobing. The gradient of re~ractive index in the

duct in Figure 10 was about -310 N-unit/km while the gradient in the

duct in Figure 14 was about -320 N-unit/km. Figures 15a and I5b show

the spatial correlation for the height-gain run in Figure 14.

Figure 16 shows the height-gain runs for ascent and descent

starting at 0830:10 and ending at 0850:46 on July 26, 1979. The

o dB point corresponds to the free-space signal strength. In the

height range from about 115 m to 160 m on ascent, the 9.6 GHz signal

went through one-half cycle variation while the 28.8 GHz signal went

through about 3 half-cycle variations indicating the duct width

·increased from its value for the height-gain run in Figure 14. The

conjecture is that from 0800 in Figure 14 to 0830 in Figure 16 the

characteristics of the duct changed sufficiently to cause the 9.6

GHz signal to go through one cycle of variation in the height range

115 to 160 m in Figure 16 as opposed to two cycles in Figu~e 14.

This also could have been caused by the duct width changing. Figures

17a and l7b show the spatial correlations for the same time period as

Figure 16.

Figure 18 shows the height-gain runs for ascent and descent

starting at 0855:20 and ending at 0912:51 MST on July 26, 1979. The

o dB point corresponds to the free-space signal strength. In the

height range from about 140 roto 170 m on ascent, the 9.6 GHz signal

went through one-half cycle variation while the 28.8 GHz signal went

through three half-cycles of variation. This would imply that the

-24-
9.6 GHz DISH 28.8 GHz HORN 28.8 GHz DISH

ASCENT DESCENT ASCENT DESCENT ASCENT DESCENT

1"OlJ-160

N units/km

300

250

200 E

....

.c Carriage Position for .2'

CO 1"OlJ-320 First Fresnel Zone

J: 150 N units/km Clearance of

I Q) Hoover Hill.

rv at

U1 0

I ...

...

0 100 0 . I "'" I ..... I

----- I

------ I . ~. I

Carriage Position for

501- -'" ..D I , I } I .JI _J I Optical Grazing of

Hoover Hill.

o -30 -20 -10 o

-20 -10 0

-30 -20 -1,0

-20 -10 0

-30 -20 -10 o

-20 -10 0

0' - I , I • , , f t 1 , I • , e , ,

Figure 14.

Normalized Signal, I E/Eol ,(dB)

Height-gain runs starting at 0800 and ending at 0817 on 7/26/79. 1 sample/sec.

0 2 (9 . 6 GHz)~8.43 dB2 , 0 2 ( 28 . 8 GHz horn)~12.07 dB2 , 0 2 (28 . 8 GHz dish)~6.38 dB2 •
1.0

CRD5S~CDRR£LArION

15T VARIABLE-2B.SH

2ND VARtRBlE.2B.e~

DF Frs USED- 3S6

NUMBER Dr LRSS- 36

STRRT TIME.a, 26 as me an

STOP rIME' 8726 e 17 16

VDLTMETER aSIf2A

TRtB&£R PERIOD- t SEC

SRMPLE P£RtD~. \.D8a S£~

NUMBER Dr SAMPLES- 22£a

-20 -10 o

-,5

10 20

meters

Figure 15a. Spatial correlation of 28.8 GHz horn versus

28.8 GHz dish for 0802:22 to 0808:l6 on

7/'26/79.

-26-
rnax 0 .. 67--+

l.O

.5

~R055~CDRRELRTIDN

rST VARIABLE=S.Ei

2NP VARIABLE=2B.BO • Dr PTS USED- 3SS

NUMBER Or LAGS- 36

STRRT TIME1B7 26 Be aB BS

STOP TIME' B7 26 B 17 16

VDLTMETER BSB2R

TRISSER PERID~= J 5£~

SAMPLE PERIDD- I.mae S£~

NUMBER Or SAMPLES- 22SB.

~·2Q o o

Figure ISb.

meters

~,,5

Spatial correlation of 9.6 GHz dish versus

28.8 GHz dish from 0802:22 to 0808:16 on

7/26/79.

-27-
28.8 GHz DISH

ASCENT DESCENT

28.8 GHz HORN

ASCENT

9.6 GHz DISH

ASCENT DESCENT

"'-140

N units/km

0 -30 -20 -10 0 -30 --20 -10 0 -30 -20 -10 0

-20 -10 0 -20 -10 0 -20 -10 0

Normalized Signal, I E/Eol ,(dB)

300

250

---- 200 E

+i-

.e Carriage Posttion for .~

CD 150 "'-330 irst Fresnel Zone

::I: Nunits/km Clearance of

CD Hoover Hill.

C'

.,

0

...

... I 0 100, t\J U

00 H ;1 J

I ~I -c; I 7 I -<j'1

Carriage' Position for

501- ~~ IInitc:"-lcm4J I I J I I I Optical G'razing of

Hoover Hill.

Figure 16. Height-gain runs for 9.6 GHz, 28.8 GHz horn and 28.8GHz dish from 0830:10 to

0850:46 on 7/26/79. 1 sec. samples. 0 2 ( 9 . 6 GHz) '" 5.58 dB

2

, 0

2

( 2 8 . 8 GHz

horn) '" 13.00 dB 2 , 0 2 ( 28 . 8 GHz dish) '" 17.92 dB

2

•
max 0.'86 -+

-lO o

-~5

CROSS"'<:DRR£LRrr ON

1ST VARfRBl£-2B.BSH2 HRN

2ND VRRrRBL£-2B.B&H2 ~SH

• DF PT5 US£~. t~Z6

NUMBER Dr LASS- 188

STRRT rfME-Z, 26 me 3D HZ

STOP TIME· 81 26 e 3~ a

VOLTMETER 3~3JR . TR 1156E:/R PER' CD- II SE(

SAMPLE PERtD~. B.2sm SE<

NUMBER Dr SAMPLES- 22S~

10 20

meters

Figure 17a. Spatial correlation for 28.8 GHz horn versus

28.8 GHz dish from 0832:25 to 0838:16 on

7/26/79.

-29-
max 0.61 -+

l.O

CRD55-~DRRELRTIDN

1ST VRRtRBLE-S.6GHZ

2ND VRRIRBLE=28.8GHZ ~5H

• OF PTS USEDa IYZ6

NUMBER Dr LAG5= t~~

START TIME-S7 ~6 ~8 33 aa

STOP TIME· B7 26 8 33 Z

VOLTMETER 3Lt37A

TRIGGER PERICD= m SE<

SAMPLE P£RID~· ~.2sa 5E~

NUMBER Or SAMPLES- 22SZ

-20 -10 o 10 20

meters

Figure 17b.

-,,5

Spatial correlation for 9.6 GHz dish versus

28.8 GHz dish from 0_832:25 to 0838:16 on

7/26/79.

-30-
9.6 GHz DISH 28.8 6Hz HORN 28.8 GHz DISH

o

ASCENT DESCENT

- 30 -20 -10

-20 -10 0

o

ASCENT DESCENT

- 30 -20 -10

-20 -10 0

o

ASCENT DESCENT

I'J -40

Nunits Zkrn

-jO -20 -10

-20 -10 0

0' J l } L l l l I L III I I , I I

300

250

200 E..........

..

.c Carriage Position for .2'

CD 150 I'J - 350 First Fresnel Zone

J: N units/km Clearance of

CD Hoover Hill.

0'

.,

0

I ... w ...

0 \-I 100 0 I L~~ J _ _~ _____~~~_~ __ ~_l_______~_~__L ________~~ ______ __ ___ L_____ _____________ __=____~ ~I I

Carriage Position for

501-- ~.7N units/km I F If I I .r I Optical Grazing of

Hoover Hill.

Figure 18.

Normalized SignaI, I E/Eo I ,(dB)

Height-gain runs starting at 0855:20 and ending at 0912:51 on 7/26/79.

1 sample/sec. 0'2(9.6 GHz) 8.93 dB2 , 0'2(28.8 GHz horn) 6.13 dB2 ,

0 2 (28 . 8 GHz dish) 6.94 dB 2 •
duct geometry for this time period was comparable with that for the

height-gain run in Figures 1"7 and 10.

Figures 19a and 19bshow the correlations for the time period

0857:22 to 0903:16 on July 26, 1979~

6. CONCLUSIONS

Examples are shown of multipath fading for both fixed transmitter/receiver locations and height-gain runs observed on a 23 km

path from the BAO tower in Erie, Colorado, to the Radio Building in

Boulder, Colorado. By comparing the received signal during time

periods when the atmosphere was in a normal condition with those

periods when the atmospheric structure produced a duct, we conjecture

that the fading was the result of atmospheric multipath and not

ground reflections. In particular, we believe we observed some

examples of "radio holes".

We believe these preliminary results are interesting from the

standpoint that the extremely short delays between the 1st and 2nd

components in a 3-ray model for atmospheric multipath may be resolvable using the BAD tower at Erie and should contribute toward a better

understanding of the 3-ray model.

There is more research that must be performed before the possibility of ground reflections can be discounted. This research should

take the form of 1) recording the refractivity structure with a finer

spatial resolution than the 50 m increments used in obtaining the

results in this report, 2) use Hufford's full wave solution for the

received signal as a function of height and make comparison with the

observed height-gain runs, 3) use RummIer's model for estimating the

parameters in a 3~ray model for the transfer function .

.... 32-
-20

max 0.77 -+-

-10 o

-.5

.5

CRDS5~~CRRELRTIDN

1ST VARIABLE=2B.8H

2NP VARJABLEa2B.BD • Dr PTS USEP- IYIB

NUMBER Dr LAGS- lem

STRRT TJME'S7 26 Be S~ Bm

STOP TIME· 07 26 B S~ g VOLTMETER 3Lf37R

TRIG6£R PERID~= B SE~

SAMPLE P£RID~. a.2SS 5E~

NUMBER Dr SAMPLES- 22sa

lO 20

meters

Spatial correlation of 28.8 GHz horn with

28.8 GHz dish for 0857:22 to 0903:l6 on

7/'26/79.

-33-
1.0

CROSS-CORRELATION

1ST VARIAi3LE=9.6

2ND VRRIA5LE=28.8D • OF PTS USE~= lYle

NUMBER OF LAG5= 1~~

START TtME1a7 26 ~8 Sy ~~

STOP TIME- B7 26 8 SY

VDLTMETER 3Lf37R

TRIGGER PER1DP= SEC

SAMPLE PERIO~= ~.2SB SEC

NUMBER Dr SAMPLES= 22SB

.5

- 0 L------i------+-----+~/_---+-_+_--t__---+_---_t_--____i

- .. 5

Figure 19b. Spatial correlation of 9.6 GHz dish with

28.8 GHz dish for 0857:22 to 0903:16 on

7/26/79.

-34-
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Ament, W. S., W. Binnian, w. w. Carter, M. Katzin, and D. T.

Olmsted (1962), Microwave propagation meaaurementsvover the

Pacific Ocean, 1946, NRL Report 5687,U. S. Naval Research Lab.,

Washington, D. C.

Extended range observations along paths in Okinawa and

the Philippines.

2) Anderson, e., S. Barber, and R. Patel (1977), Propagation

experiments show path to excess, Telesis, Dec., Special issue:

DRS-B digital radio system, 180-185.

Anderson et ale made 8 GHz measurements of a digitally

modulated signal over paths 45-50 km. The inband distortion

was studied in the frequency" domain by measuring the amplitude

and delay at five frequencies across a + 15 MHz band during

multipath fading. The effects of frequency and space diversity

were also studied.

3) Babler, G. M. (1972), A study of frequency selective fading for

a microwave line-of-sight narrowband radio channel, BSTJ,

Vol. 51, No.3, March, 731-757.

The temporal and spectral characteristics of a 6 GHz

signal subject to multipath were estimated using a field of

62 coherent tones spaced 550 kHz apart and centered on 70.4

MHz. The transmitter translated the" 33.55 MHz wide tone to

a 6.0342 GHz carrier and propagated along the 26 mile PalmettoAtlanta,. Georgia path. Two antennas were used to receive the

signal; a horn reflector~tenna having a 1.25° half-power

beamwidth and a 6 ft. dish having a 2° half-power beamwidth.

The-conclusion regarding beamwidth is "the selective fading

structure as observed in a narrow-band radio channel at

these frequencies is insensitive to the beamwidth or to

the precise vertical location of the antenna." The statistical behavior of the envelope ofa fading signal follows the

fade depth distribution

P(V < L)a L2

where the fade depth = -20 Log L, and V is the amplitude of

the received signal.

4) Barnett, W. T. (1972), Multipath propagation at 4, 6 and

11 GHz, BSTJ, Vol. 51, No.2, Feb., 321-361

The empirical estimate for the "total time faded",

2 P = rL

where L is the normalized algebraic value of the envelope

voltage (fade depth in dB = -20 Log10L) and

f 3 -5

r = c(4)D x 10

where

-35-
f

l , average terrain

c = 4, over-water and Gulf Coast

1/4, mountains and dry climate

f is the frequency and D is the path length.

5) Bean, B.R. (1959), Climatology of ground-based radio ducts,

NBS 63D, 29-34.

Bean analyzed rawinsonde data from 3 regions in the

.U.S. and observed ground-based ducts in many profiles, with

a maximum lapse rate of -420 N-units/km and an average thickness of about 100 m.

6) Bean, B. R., and B. A. Cahoon (1959), Effect of atmospheric

horizontal inhomogeneity upon ray tracing, J. Res. NBS, 63D,

287-292.

Bean and Cahoon report abrupt horizontal changes in

refractive index associated with land-sea breez~s, and

special. events ,such as storms and frontal passages.

7) Chang, H. T. (1971), The effect of tropospheric layer

structure on long-range VHF radio propagation, IEEE Trans'.

Ant. Prop. AP~l9, 751-756.

Explained propagation within a duct in terms of

mode theory.

8) Clemow, D. B., and E. H. Bruce-Clayton (1963), Long-range

VHF air/ground communications, Radio and Electron. Engr. 25,

17-30.

Clemow and Bruce-Clayton studied enhanced field strength

and extended range in the area of the Persian Gulf.

9) Cowan, L. W. (1953), A radio climatology survey of the U.S.,

Proc. Conf. on Radio Meteorol., Univ. of Texas, Austin, Texas.

Cowan noted that ducting gradients are found in as

many as 40% of radiosonde observations during some month's,

and that most occur within the first km above the earth's

surface.

10) Crain, C. M. (1953), Refractometer measured tropospheric

index-of-refraction profiles, Vols. I and II, Univ. of Texas,

EERL Rept. 6-02. - --

Using an airborne microw.ave refractometer, Crain

measured refractive index profiles off the coast at San

Francisco to distances of 150 roi at elevations up to

12,000 ft. He describes the west coast as characterized

by a marine layer immediately above the sea surface, with

a warm dry layer above it. This produces a strong inversion, with a superrefractive layer, which may range in

elevation from a few hundred feet to 5000 ft.

-36-
11) Crawford, A. B., and W. C.Jakes, Jr. C1952}, Selective Eading)

of Microwaves, BSTJ', Vol. 31, No.1, Jan., 68-90.

Angle-of-arrival measurements at 1.25 cm and frequency

selective fading measurements over a 450 MHz band on a

22.8 mile path from Murray Hill, N. J. to Holmdel, Lab, N.J.

12) Davies, M. C. (1976), The effect of multipath propagation on

the performance of 4-1evel phase-shift-keyed digital microwave

radio-relay systems, Post Office Telecommunications, Research

Dept. Report No. 562, Oct., The Post Office Research' Centre,

Martlesham, Heath, Ipswich, U.K.

The effect of 3 ray multipath distortion on 4 QPSK

digital systems in the presence of wide-band Gaussian

noise is calculated by computer simulation.

13) DeLange, O. E. (1952), Propagation studies at microwave

frequencies by means of very short pulses, BSTJ, Vol. 31,

No.1, Jan., 91-103.

One of the first short pulse experiments for investigating multipath. Microwave pulses with a duration of

3 ns were transmitted over a 22 mile path from Murray Hill,

N.J. to Holmdel, N.J. The carrier frequency was 4 GHz.

Multipath deLays of 7 ns were observed. Minimum resolution

was 0.7 ns.

14) Dougherty, H. T., and W. J. Hartman (1977), Performance of a

400 Mbit/s systems over a line-af-sight path, IEEE Trans. on

Communications, Vol. Com-25, No.4, April, 427-432.

The authors detected atmospheric multipath by

examining the notch in the received spectrum as a multipath component moving through the path geometry. An

example of the fading in a "rapidly-changing" atmosphere

is shown in Figure B-1.

15) Edinger, J. G. (1959), Changes in the depth of the marine layer

over the Los Angeles basin, J. Meteorol. 16, 219-226.

Edinger"reported rapid changes in the marine layer with

time of day, season, and large-scale weather changes.

16) Flock, W. L., R. C. MacKey, and W. D. Hershberger (1960),

Propagation at 36,000 Me in the Los Angeles basin, IRE Trans.

AP-8, 235-241.

Flock et ale noted that the marine layer is about

1500 ft. thick near Los Angeles, but there is a considerable variation from near zero to about 4000 ft.

17) Guinard, N. W., J. Ransome, D. Randall, C. Purves, and P.

Watkins (1964), Propagation through an elevated duct. Trad~­

winds III, IRE Trans. AP-12, 479-490 ..

Guinard et ale observed the greatly extended ranges

that.ma~ result from strong, persistent atmospheric layers

on alrllne routes from San Diego to Hawaii.

-37-
18) Hartman, W. J., and D. ~Smith (1975) ,Tilting antennas to reduce

line-of-sight microwave link fading, Final report prepared for

u. S. Dept. of Transportation, report no. FAA-RD-75-38, Federal

Aviation Administration, Systems Research and Development

Service, Washington, D. C. 20590.

Figure B2 shows a time series for a 8.1 GHz signal

over a 50 km path between Fowler and Boone, Colorado.

The authors found that ground reflections could be

eliminated by proper antenna tilting.

19) Katzin, M. (1957), On the mechanisms of radar sea clutter,

Proc. IRE 45, 44-54.

Propagation studies over the Atlantic Ocean.

20) Kerr, D. C. (1951), Propagation of short radio waves, D6ver,

N. Y.

Pages 140-174 give a detailed description of

calculating the characteristic eigenvalues and eigen

functions in a bilinear model for a tropospheric duct.

21) Lang, R. H. (1978), Ray structure of ducted multipath for an

LOS link, RADC-TR-78-l23, May, Rome Air Development Center,

Air Force Systems Command, Griffis Air Force Base, N.Y. 13441.

A propagation model for performing ray tracing in

atmospheric ducts, as approximated by -the tri-linear model.

22) Linfield, R. F., R. W. Hubbard and L. E. Pratt (1976), Transmission channel characterization by impulse response measurements, OT Report 76-96.

An impulse response measurement system is described

where the resolution of multipath components is 6 ns.

23) Lundgren, C. W., and W. D. RummIer, Digital radio outage due to

selective fading-observation vs. prediction from laboratory

simulation, BSTJ, Vol. 58, No.5, May-June, 1073-1100.

A statistical model for the three parameters:

1) , the position of the fade minimum or notch and

o

2) b the amplitude of the multipath component in the

channel transfer function, and

3) a multiplicative constant, a

The transfer function is

H{w) = a[l

-i(w-wo)T

be ]

The statistics were gathered on an unprotected 26.4 mile hop in

the 6-GHz band from Palmetto, Georgia to Atlanta, Georgia. The

signal was modulated with an 8-PSK modem, typical~y with a pulse

width = 6.3 ns. The modeled fading occurrences were scaled

to the basis of a heavy fading month using the occurrence of

time faded below a level at a single frequency as the means of

calibration.

-38-
24 ) Neiburger, M. (19441, Temperature changes during ~o~ation and

dissipation of West Coast ~tratus,J.iJ!eteorol.!." 2 9-41.

Neiburger noted in the Los Angles area that the base

of the subsidence inversion layer undergoes marked changes

in elevation, with a maximum about 8 am. and a minimum

in the evening.

25) Ortenburger, L. N. (1979), Duct/SRLR, GTE Sylvania.

A comprehensive table of duct parameters such as trapping

frequency, percent occurrence of layers, surface refractivity

and gradients, layer thickness from many stations throughout

the world.

26) Pappert" R., and C. Goodhart (1976), Waveguide calculations of

signal levels in tropospheric ducting~environments, NELC Tech.

Note 3129, Feb., Naval E!ectronics Lab. Center, San Diego,

Calif. 92152.

A theoretical model for calculating the fields in a

tri-linear model for a tropospheric duct.

27) Ramadan, M. (1979), Availability prediction of 8 PSK digital

microwave systems during multipath propagation, ICC conference

proceedings.

A simple two ray model based on the 1971 Ruthroff

model to study multipath.

28) Ringwalt,. D. L., and F. C. Macdonald (1961), Elevated duct

propagation in the tradewinds, IRE Trans. AP-9, 377-383.

Effects of tradewind inversion on propagation.

29) Rosenthal, J. (1972), Point Mugu forecasters handbook, Tech.

Publication PMR-TP-72-1, Pacific Missile Range, Pt. Mugu,

California 93042.

30) Rosenthal, J. (1973), PMR refractive support tb Fleet Range

Users in a highly r-efr ac t Lve enviroment. Proe. Com. Third

Fleets Navy Conf., Refractive Effects on EM Propagation,

San Diego, California.

Rosenthal states that much of the coastal area of

southern California, including the Pacific Missile Range,

is usually in a moist marine layer capped by a rather strong

and much drier inversion layer. The latter is strongly

superrefractive and is almost always present, especially

in the summer months.

31) RummIer, W. D. (1979), A new selective fading model: Application to propagation data, BSTJ, Vol. 58, No.5, May-June,

1037-1071.

A three ray model for the channel transfer function;

-i (w-w ) T~

H(w) = a[l be 0]

-39-
The distribution of the parameter b is of the form ll-b}2.3,

the distribution of a is lognormal while the distribution for

w is constant at two different levels depending upon whether

o

W T is five times as likely to be less than 11'/2 than to be

o

greater.

32) Ruthroff, C. L. (1971), Multiple-Path fading on line-of-sight

microwave radio systems as a function of path length and frequency, BSTJ, Vol. 50, No.7, Sept., 2375-2398.

Assuming the maximum phase difference between the direct

and multipath rays to be 3rr/4 for a short path (i.e., just two

rays rather than say 3 make up the received signal) corresponding to a difference in path length of 6L = A or a

maximum delay

1" = 3

8f seconds

At a frequency of 20 GHz the maximum echo delay on a 5.5 km

path is 0.01 875 ns. Pulses with a duration of one ns would

suffer little degradation.

33) Starkey, B. J. (1956), Some aircraft measurements of beyondthe-horizon propagation phenomena at 91.3 Me/s, Proc. IEEE

103B, 761-763.

Starkey studied the enhanced field strength and extended

range related to extensive and persistent layers in the

atmosphere.

34) Tattersall, R. L. 0., and N. E. cartwright (1977), Multipath

propagation data collected from tests on line-of-sight radio

paths at 11, 20 and 37 GHz during the period 1972-1975, Post

Office Telecommunications, Research Dept. report No. 594

Feb., The Post Office Research Centre, Martlesham, Heath,

Ipswich, U.K.

Data is presented for multipath fading during the period

1972-1975 on several terrestrial microwave radio links in the

U.K. The fading was monitored on 8 experimental links in

East Anglia with paths ranging from 4 to 22.8 km at frequencies

close to 11, 20 and 37 GHz. Data were also collected from 6

geographically~diverse 11 GHz communications links haying

path lengths of 14.4 to 36.2 km. The CD.'s generally show

Rayleigh-type fading. The designed path clearances were made

the same as those for Post Office operational communications

radio-relay systems; i.e., a clearance of 0.577 of the radius

of the first Fresnel-zone ellipsoid under an effective earths

radius of 0.7. A ray-trace of the Purdown-Pen Hill path is

shown in Figure B3 under normal atmospheric conditions and

it would appear that the path is not LOS.

-40-
35) Thompson, M. e., L. E. Wood, H. B. Janes and D.Smith (1975),

Phase and amplitude scintillations in the 10 to 40 GHz band,

IEEE Tr'ans. Ant. and Prop., Vol. :AP-'2,3, No.6, Nov., 792-797

"Active" amplitude fading on a 64 km slant path at

19.1 and 25.4 GHz are shown in the time series in Figure B4.

The correlation of the two signals was greater than 0.5 for

lags greater than 5 sec.

36) Turner, D., B. J. Easterbrook and J. E. Golding (1966),

Experimental investigation into radio propagation at 11.0-11.5

GHz, Proc.lEE, Vol. 113, No.9, Sept., 1477-1489.

Fading statistics collected on 3 paths in U.K. due to

multipath and precipitation.

37) Vigants, A. (1975), Space-Diversity Engineering, BSTJ, ,Vol. 54,

NO.1, Jan., 103-142.

Space diversity was examined on 26 mile AtlantaPalmetto, Georgia path at 4- and 6-GHz as an alternative

form of protection against multipath fading.

-41-
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-20

c.

E

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c

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en

9.1 GHz

-50' I I I I

0300 0400

Time

0500

Figure B1. Time series for 9.1 GHz signal over 22.8 km path near Haswell in

southeastern, Colorado, 3/8/66. E{9.1 GHz}~-13 dB 2 , 0

2 ( 9 . 1 GHz)

~126 dB 2 • From Fig. 6, R. E. McGavin, H. T. Dougherty, C. B.

Emmanual, Microwave Diversity Over Irregular T.errain, ESSA Tro,

ERLTM-WPL3, December, 1968.
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0400 0500 0600

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0300

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Figure B2. Time series for 8.1 GHz signal over 50 km Boone-Fowler path, 8/2/79.

E{8.1 GHz} = -10 dB. 0 2 ( 8 . 1 GHz) 9 dB 2 • From Fig. 7, W. J.

Hartman, D. Smith (1975), Tiltinc~ antennas to reduce line-of-sight

microwave link fading, Report No. FAA-RD-75-38, February, Prepared

for U. S. Dept. of Transportation, FAA, Systems Research and Development Service, Washington, D. C. 20590.
>- U) ,.- ,.- > c

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-44-
Figure B4. Time series for 19.1 and 25.4 GHz signals over 64 kmpath in Hawaii,

9/13/71. E{19.1 GHz} = -16 dB, 0 2 (1 9 . 1 GHz) = 9 dB2 , E{25.4 GHz} = -12 dB, 0 2 (25.4 GHz) = 11.5 dB 2 • From Fig. 6,' M. C. Thompson, Jr.,

Lockett E. Wood, Harris B. Janes, Dean Smith, (1975l, Phase and

Amplitude Scintillations in the J.O to 40 GHz Band, IEEE Trans. Ant.

and Prop., Vol. AP-23, No.6.

FORM OT.29

(3-73)

u.s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE' OFFICE OF TI:;L.ECOMMUNICATIONS

BIDLJOGRAPHIC DATA SHEET

1. PUBLICATION OR REPORT NO 2a Gov't Accession No.3. Recipient's Accession No.

NTIA-Report-aO-40

~. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

Fading Statistics on a 23 km Link at 9.6 and 28.8 GHz

5. Publication Date

,1l1np 19RO

6. Performing Orsanization Code

NTIA/ITS

7. AUTHOR{S) R. H. Ott, K. C.All en, E.J .Vi 01 ette, 9. Project/Task/Work Unit No.

R.H~Espeland, M.C.Thompson,Jr., and A. R. Mitz

8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

U. ,S. Deoartment of Commerce

Natione lTel econmunt catf ons and Information Admintstratlc flo. Contract/Grant No.

Institute for Telecommunication Sciences

Boulder, Colorado 80303

11. Sponsoring Organization Name and Address

Same

14. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

12. Type of Report and Period Covered

13.

1s. ABSTRACT (A lOG-word or less factual sununary of most siQnificant information. If document includes a signi.ficant

biblioAraphy of literature survey, menticn it here.)

An experimental study of atmospheric mul t lpath on a 23 km link at 9.6 and 28.8 GHz

near Boul der , Colorado,' is described. The pre l imtnary obs.ervations were made for

three days in July 1979 when a strong inversion layer was present, creating an

elevated tropospher-ic duct. The possible tnfluence of antenna aperture size on

atmospher-ic mul tipath was investigated by observinq fades and enhancements on the

28.8 6Hz carrier using a 100 horn and a 1.20 paraboltc dtsfi~ Conttnuous hetghtgai'n observatiens were. obtatned ustnc the 300 m, tower rat Erie, Colorado, as one

end of the 1tnk, Meteorol oqtca1 data at .the tower were also recorded durtng

observation periods of, the radio signal.

16. Key words (Alphabetical order, separated by semicolons)

Atmospheric multipath, fading, mi cromi l 1imeter wave, refractivity structure.

17. AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

[Xl UNLIMITED.

O· FOR OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION.

18. Securi ty Class (This report)

Unclassified

19. Security Class (This paWJ)

Unclassified

20. Number of pages

50

21. Price:

tr u. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE:!.19S0-0-67S-S45/45S l'SCOMM-OC 2971 ~-P7 3

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