Effects of Tropospheric Turbulence on Radio Signal Data Passing Atmospheric Communication Links

Abstract This paper analyzes the effects of turbulent structures of different sizes on the structural parameter of the refractive index and, consequently, on the scintillation index of radio waves passing through atmospheric channels with fading. The relationships between these parameters are analyzed and discussed not only for weak turbulence, but also for moderate and strong turbulences occurring in the mid‐latitude troposphere. By using the relationship between the scintillation index of signal intensity and the well‐known Rician parameter of fast fading, and by obtaining the relationships between the signal data stream parameters, capacity, spectral efficiency, and bit error rate, and factor of fast fading, we have numerically analyzed various cases of data transmission over tropospheric communication links with fading. This analysis considers the effects of weak, moderate, and strong turbulence on the quality of data transmission over such communication links. The results of this study can be used to improve the design and performance of tropospheric communication links in the presence of turbulence.