page_title: Tropospheric scatter
hierarchical_section_title: Tropospheric scatter
caption_attribution_description: English: Parabolic antenna used in the White Alice Communication System built around 1958 in Alaska by Western Electric and the US Air Force, which provided telephone communication between isolated communities. It was a tropospheric scatter system; large antennas like this beamed 50&#160;kW signals at about 900&#160;MHz at a low angle into the horizon, where they scattered off the tropopause, with a tiny fraction returning to Earth beyond the horizon. Looking East. The tower at right supports the feed horn for the antenna. The system became obsolete with the advent of communications satellites in the 1960s.
context_page_description: Tropospheric scatter is a method of communicating with microwave radio signals over considerable distances – often up to 300 kilometres, and further depending on terrain and climate factors. This method of propagation uses the tropospheric scatter phenomenon, where radio waves at UHF and SHF frequencies are randomly scattered as they pass through the upper layers of the troposphere. Radio signals are transmitted in a narrow beam aimed just above the horizon in the direction of the receiver station. As the signals pass through the troposphere, some of the energy is scattered back toward the Earth, allowing the receiver station to pick up the signal.
  Normally, signals in the microwave frequency range travel in straight lines, and so are limited to line of sight applications, in which the receiver can be 'seen' by the transmitter. Communication distances are limited by the visual horizon to around 30–40 miles. Troposcatter allows microwave communication beyond the horizon. It was developed in the 1950s and used for military communications until communications satellites largely replaced it in the 1970s.
context_section_description: Tropospheric scatter (also known as troposcatter) is a method of communicating with microwave radio signals over considerable distances – often up to 300 kilometres (190 mi), and further depending on terrain and climate factors. This method of propagation uses the tropospheric scatter phenomenon, where radio waves at UHF and SHF frequencies are randomly scattered as they pass through the upper layers of the troposphere. Radio signals are transmitted in a narrow beam aimed just above the horizon in the direction of the receiver station. As the signals pass through the troposphere, some of the energy is scattered back toward the Earth, allowing the receiver station to pick up the signal.
  Normally, signals in the microwave frequency range travel in straight lines, and so are limited to line of sight applications, in which the receiver can be 'seen' by the transmitter. Communication distances are limited by the visual horizon to around 30–40 miles (48–64 km). Troposcatter allows microwave communication beyond the horizon.  It was developed in the 1950s and used for military communications until communications satellites largely replaced it in the 1970s.
  Because the troposphere is turbulent and has a high proportion of moisture the tropospheric scatter radio signals are refracted and consequently only a tiny proportion of the radio energy is collected by the receiving antennas. Frequencies of transmission around 2 GHz are best suited for tropospheric scatter systems as at this frequency the wavelength of the signal interacts well with the moist, turbulent areas of the troposphere, improving signal to noise ratios.
caption: Boswell Bay, Alaska White Alice Site, Tropospheric scatter antenna and feeder.
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