Ice Cloud Detection By Millimeter Waves

The ever increasing demand for larger bandwidths is pushing the communications satellite systems towards higher frequencies. At such frequencies the signal degradation induced by the atmosphere gets severe and therefore the usage of mitigation techniques reveals itself to be mandatory. A good understanding of the propagation channel properties is therefore required. Beyond Q-band, ice attenuation might have a role on communication satellite systems design. The present paper addresses a simple method to detect the presence of ice clouds by means of radiometric measurements relying on the difference of the ice scattering properties at 24 GHz and 90 GHz.