SCIENCE CHINA Information Sciences, Volume 60, Issue 11: 113301(2017) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11432-017-9232-8

## Sub-THz signals' propagation model in hypersonic plasma sheath under different atmospheric conditions

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• ReceivedJul 18, 2017
• AcceptedAug 17, 2017
• PublishedOct 11, 2017
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### Abstract

One of the aims for modern hypersonic cruise flight is hypersonic global reach. The length of route for such flights could be up to thousands of kilometers. The atmospheric conditions on the route are complicated. On the other hand, hypersonic flights used to suffer from communication blackout. The sub-THz communication is considered as a potential solution to the `blackout'. In the present study the propagation for sub-THz signals in hypersonic plasma sheaths was modeled under different atmospheric conditions. According to the study, the electron density and the electron collision frequency near the onboard antenna linearly increase with the atmospheric mass density around the vehicle, hence the attenuation of sub-THz signals in hypersonic plasma sheaths increases with the atmospheric mass density. The impact led by the atmospheric temperature is ignorable. Based on the study a new sub-THz signals' propagation model was developed, which could be utilized for quick estimation for signal propagation under different atmospheric conditions. The geographical difference of signal propagation over the whole globe was obtained with the new model. The results showed that the signal attenuation in plasma sheaths varies with latitude and longitude. The maximum signal attenuation occurs in Alaska, Canada and Russia.

### Acknowledgment

This work was supported by Jiangxi Postdoctoral (Grant No. 2013KY43) and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province (Grant No. 20151BAB207004).

### References

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• Figure 1

(Color online) The electron density (a) and the electron collision frequency (b) of the plasma sheath (at equator).

• Figure 2

(Color online) The maxima of plasma parameters near the antenna vs. the atmospheric conditions. (a) Maxima of mass density and the temperature vs. atmospheric mass density; (b) maxima of electron density and collision frequency vs. atmospheric mass density; (c) maxima of mass density and temperature vs. atmospheric temperature; (d) maxima electron density and collision frequency vs. atmospheric temperature.

• Figure 3

(Color online) (a) The electron density profile, (b) electron collision frequency profile, (c) maximum electron density against the atmospheric mass density and (d) the peak values for the electron collision frequency against the atmospheric mass density.

• Figure 4

(Color online) The total signal attenuation vs. (a) atmospheric mass density and (b) atmospheric temperature.

• Figure 5

(Color online) The profiles for the attenuation coefficient and the electron density (a) and the electron collision frequency (b).

• Figure 6

(Color online) The global distributions of atmospheric mass density (a) and temperature (b).

• Figure 7

The comparisons between the Att based on the hypersonic fluid model (dots) and the estimation model (circles).

• Figure 8

(Color online) The global Att for the signals at (a) 94 GHz, (b) 140 GHz and (c) 225 GHz.

• Table 1   The atmospheric conditions
 Latitude Longitude Mass density (kg/m$^{3}$) Temperature (K) 1 $90^\circ$S $50^\circ$E $8.701 \times 10^{-3}$ 224.5 2 $45^\circ$N $50^\circ$E $1.682 \times 10^{-2}$ 232.5 3 $68^\circ$S $50^\circ$E $1.011 \times 10^{-2}$ 230.4 4 $50^\circ$S $50^\circ$E $1.321 \times 10^{-2}$ 231.3 5 $0^\circ$ $50^\circ$E $1.566 \times 10^{-2}$ 230.9 6 $68^\circ$N $50^\circ$E $1.659 \times 10^{-2}$ 234.7 7 $45^\circ$S $50^\circ$E $1.402 \times 10^{-2}$ 231.3 8 $15^\circ$S $50^\circ$E $1.567 \times 10^{-2}$ 231.2 9 $15^\circ$N $50^\circ$E $1.606 \times 10^{-2}$ 231.0 10 $30^\circ$S $50^\circ$E $1.550 \times 10^{-2}$ 231.3 11 $30^\circ$N $50^\circ$E $1.658 \times 10^{-2}$ 231.5
• Table 2   The results of curve fitting
 $l_{\rm peak}$ $c_{N_{\rm e}}$ $l_{\rm peak1}$ $c_{c1}$ $l_{\rm peak2}$ $c_{c2}$ $l_{\rm peak3}$ $c_{c3}$ 1 0.351 0.01755 0.4344 0.05115 0.4805 0.01166 0.3087 0.1141 2 0.3507 0.01629 0.4348 0.05247 0.4819 0.01061 0.3067 0.1151 3 0.351 0.01723 0.4346 0.05144 0.4807 0.0114 0.3084 0.1138 4 0.3504 0.01663 0.4351 0.0521 0.4819 0.01074 0.3073 0.1175 5 0.3507 0.01638 0.4346 0.05141 0.4815 0.01094 0.3098 0.1121 6 0.3508 0.0162 0.4348 0.05189 0.4818 0.01074 0.3084 0.115 7 0.3507 0.01656 0.435 0.05195 0.4819 0.01076 0.3078 0.1154 8 0.3508 0.01637 0.4345 0.05197 0.4813 0.01111 0.3076 0.1145 9 0.3507 0.01642 0.4344 0.05218 0.4816 0.01095 0.3064 0.1163 10 0.3507 0.01632 0.4353 0.05152 0.4818 0.01081 0.3094 0.1142 11 0.3508 0.01641 0.4351 0.05202 0.4819 0.01064 0.3082 0.1141

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