Application of a statistical raindrop canting angle model on terrestrial and satellite links

A statistical model estimating the mean and standard deviation of each drop-size canting angle, assuming Gaussian canting angle distributions, is presented. The model utilises the one-dimensional energy spectrum of horizontal turbulence given by F.B. Smith, and, using the differential equation for the horizontal drop movement, it calculates the mean and standard deviation of each drop-size canting angle. Comparison with M.J. Saunders´s work shows good agreement. Application of the model to terrestrial and satellite links shows that, for rain alone, the crosspolarisation discrimination variations for satellite paths are much higher than in the terrestrial case, and that the crosspolarisation discrimination mean values are lower for terrestrial paths.