Atmospheric Distortion of Signals Originating from Space Sources

The phasefront distortion imposed on space signals by fine-grained refractivity variations of the atmosphere is an important consideration in the design of large-aperture antennas, antenna arrays, antenna systems for measuring spacecraft position and position-rate, and radioastronomy systems. The distortion caused by ionospheric and tropospheric refractivity variations imposes fundamental limitations on the capabilities of these antennas and antenna systems, particularly on systems which must operate at low elevation angles. The purpose of this paper is to present numerical estimates of distortion imposed on signals passing through the atmosphere. Atmospheric models based on available literature are selected for this purpose.