Surface Reflection and Local Environmental Effects in Maritime and other Mobile Satellite Communications

ABSTRACT: This paper introduces the effects of surface reflections and local environmental as very important particulars for mobile and especially for Maritime Satellite Communications (MSC), because such factors generally tend to impair the performance of satellite communications links, although signal enhancements are also occasionally observed. Local environmental effects include shadowing and blockage from objects and vegetation near the Ship Earth Station (SES) and other mobile terminals. The advantages and disadvantages of those effects are discussed, the areas of surface reflection were examined and the further investigations of local environmental are provided. At this point, surface reflections are generated either in the immediate vicinity of the SES terminals or from distant reflectors, such as mountains and large industrial infrastructures. Specific issues related to these challenges are concluded and a set of solutions is proposed to maximize the availability of satellite communication capacity to the mobile user applications. The specific effects on propagation in the mobile environments are examined and explained important characteristics of the Interference from Adjacent Satellite Systems, Specific Local Environmental Influence in MSC, different Noise Contribution of Local Ships' Environment, Blockages Caused by Ship Superstructures and Motion of Ship's Antenna.

KEYWORDS: Satellite Communications, Radiowave Propagation, Surface Reflection, Local Environmental Effects, Mobile Satellite Communications (MSC), Sea Surface Reflection, Ship Earth Station (SES), Maritime Mobile Satellite Communications (MMSC)

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Citation note:

Ilcev S.D.: Surface Reflection and Local Environmental Effects in Maritime and other Mobile Satellite Communications. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 441-451, 2011

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Stojce Dimov Ilcev: ORCID iD icon

orcid.org/0000-0001-8899-2021 Scopus icon

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