End-to end simulation of a K-band LEO-LEO satellite link for estimating water vapor in the low troposphere

A new differential measurement concept is presented for retrieving the total content of water vapor (IWV, Integrated Water Vapor) along the propagation path between two Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, while such path is immersing in the atmosphere during a so called set occultation. The new approach, referred to as DSA (Differential Spectral Absorption) method, is based on the simultaneous measurement of the total attenuation at two relatively close frequencies in the K band, and on the estimate of a "spectral sensitivity parameter" that is highly correlated to the IWV content of the LEO-LEO link in the low troposphere. The DSA approach has the potential to overcome all spectrally 'flat' and spectrally correlated phenomena (atmospheric scintillation among these) and provides estimates that can then be usefully integrated with standard radio occultation data products. In the paper we describe the signaling structure chosen for DSA measurements and the transmit-receive system used to simulate an end-to-end transmission during a complete LEO-LEO set occultation. Simulations are based on atmospheric models and on real radiosonde data, which allows us to account for the natural variability of the atmospheric conditions. The effects on the IWV estimates of impairments such as thermal noise at the receiver, atmospheric scintillation, multipath and defocusing are evaluated.