The Preliminary Investigation of Communication Characteristics Using Evaporation Duct across the Taiwan Strait

Abstract

Affected by the Taiwan Strait Warm Current, the evaporation intensity around the Taiwan Strait is significantly higher than in other southern and eastern coastal areas of China. To explore a new and effective method for maritime communication across the Taiwan Strait, we present a preliminary investigation of wireless microwave transmission in an evaporation duct. From 9 to 14 o’clock, the percentage of the evaporation duct height exceeding 10 m reached over 90% in 2020. With the favorable channel in this period, a “straight-through propagation channel” emerged, with a serviceable ratio of 99.00% at a 300 km transmission range. The high-quality transmission with BPSK modulation occurred 98.90% of the year from 12 to 13 o’clock, with 89.89% of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) exceeding 90 dB. Based on the effective use of the evaporation duct, the proposed method can provide favorable support for maritime applications across the Taiwan Strait.