Earth Stations Selection

Three Earth Stations are selected to ensure sufficient statistical characterization and modeling of V-band propagation phenomena across a wide range of atmospheric and meteorological conditions.

Georgia Tech – As our base of operation and situated in a region where rainfall is relatively high at a 0.01% exceedance rate of 63mm/h (ITU rain region Zone M), Georgia Tech is a natural choice as an Earth station.

Virginia Tech – Our secondary earth station on the east coast will be located at Virginia Tech. The location receives somewhat less rainfall on average than Georgia Tech with a 0.01% exceedance rate of 42mm/h (ITU Zone K). It is also 500km away from the primary Earth station, which increases the probability that one Earth station will experience clear conditions at any given time.

New Mexico Tech – The third earth station will be located at New Mexico Tech. Located in one of the driest parts of the American Southwest, New Mexico has a rainfall rate exceeding 12mm/h at less than 0.01% of the time (ITU Zone B).

Table 1 gives an overview of the Earth stations and their antenna orientation.

Table 1. Earth station locations and antenna orientation details

References:

[1] Pratt, T. Bostian, L. Allnutt, J. Satellite Communications. Wiley, 2003, pp. 314-315.