Prediction of cloud attenuation on earth-space optical links

Optical transmission is becoming an attractive solution to the ever increasing demand for high data rates in ground-to-space communications. The link budget for such a system must take into account the propagation losses produced by the troposphere. Clouds represent one of the most limiting factors for laser beams. In this paper we outline a procedure to predict cloud attenuation on ground-to-space optical links in statistical terms using a radiosoundings database. A preliminary estimate of the expected system performance in a mid-latitude site is provided as well.