A spectral shaping approach to generate power vectors for optical ground-to-space links

Optical ground-to-space links (OGSL) are characterised by a highly dynamic channel, due to optical beam propagation through the atmospheric turbulence, leading to link power outages (also known as fades). The study of such stochastic fading process is an essential task to estimate the performance of OGSLs. The most common simulation methods used require an excessive computation time, hence are incompatible for network-wide simulations with a high number of possible links to simulate. A time-efficient alternative is provided by a random power vector generation approach which leverages on the knowledge of the power outages statistics and power spectral density (PSD). In this work, a modelling approach based on a Butterworth filter construction is presented as an effective solution to define the power outages PSD. The advantages of such method are displayed and the results are compared to OGSL simulation data obtained via a validated, alternative approach.