The Impact of Dust Aerosols on the Performance of Satellite-Ground Quantum Communication Links

Quantum communication provides high security and privacy, offering effective protection against eavesdropping and decryption during information transmission. Its inherent unconditional security addresses information security issues effectively. Dust particles, as prevalent environmental factors in the atmosphere, exert negative impacts on both traditional and quantum communication. Due to the higher requirements for signal fidelity and stability in quantum communication, the impact of dust particles may be more significant. To investigate the effect of dust aerosol particles on the performance of satellite-ground quantum communication links, we established quantitative relationships between particle number concentration and transmission distance, and the link attenuation, as well as the channel capacity, system survival function, and error rate of three noise channels: amplitude damping, bit-flip, and depolarizing channels. Using Matlab, we conducted experimental simulations based on the size distribution function of dust aerosol particles and Mie scattering theory. The simulation results indicate that when the transmission distance is 6 km and the particle concentration of dust aerosols increases from <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$20 / m^{3}$</tex> to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$55 / m^{3}$</tex>, the channel attenuation factor increases from <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$84.35 d B / \text{km}$</tex> to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$232 d B / \text{km}$</tex>. The capacity of the amplitude damping channel decreases from <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$0.6486 b i t / s$</tex> to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$0.3943 b i t / s$</tex>, and the survival function of the amplitude damping channel decreases to 0.9059. When the particle concentration is <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$900 / \mathrm{m} 3$</tex> and the transmission distance increases from 3km to 8km, the bit error rate increases from 0.03 to 0.2. The results indicate that dust aerosols have impacted various aspects of satellite-to-ground communication, each in different ways, highlighting the importance of considering their influence. Therefore, when implementing quantum communication in practice, it is essential to adjust the parameters accordingly to ensure the normal operation of communication.