Airborne measurements enhancing the satellite-to-aircraft channel model in L-band

This paper reports the experimental design and implementation in a realistic environment of an airborne measurement set-up aiming at improving the quality and reliability of an aeronautical satellite transmission channel model in L-band. An improved satellite-to-aircraft channel model will allow more accurate predictions of the reception situation by considering all propagation related effects. This accuracy is important when developing and testing novel systems for critical safety-of-life application. The improvement of the channel model necessitates to assess, among other influences, the effects of the airborne platform on the electromagnetic pattern of the antennae for both fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft and the quantification of the ground-reflection characteristics in the frequency-band of interest. The herein presented activities are rounding out an extensive experimental campaign and build the continuation of the ground-based measurements outlined in a previous paper.