W-band Atmospheric Radiowave Propagation - A Challenge for Satellite TLC Systems

This contribution is aimed at presenting the scenario of the expected atmospheric impairments suffered by a radio link operating in the W band, as derived by the present theoretical and experimental knowledge. The contributions to signal fade due to gases, clouds, scintillation and rain (with emphasis also on the impact of the hydrometeor size distribution), as well as the melting layer characteristics and the depolarization of the electromagnetic waves are discussed. The main objective is to assess the constraints to face in the design of a satellite TLC system operating in the W band.