Specification and forecasting of outages on satellite communication and navigation systems

Abstract

The ionized upper atmosphere often develops electron density irregularities which cause amplitude and phase scintillations of satellite signals. Scintillations, when intense, can cause outages in satellite communication systems and in Global Positioning System (GPS) for navigation. The performance of these systems can be improved by providing global specification and forecast of scintillation. A scintillation specification system, Scintillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA), has been developed for the South American sector. An equatorial satellite, Communication Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS), equipped with suitable sensors, has been planned for the specification and forecast of equatorial scintillation.