In addition to determining the correct design parameters to meet the specifications necessary to achieve the desired communications performance and be interoperable with any prior existing components such as an optical space terminal (OST), the OGS (Optical Ground Links) must be designed to mitigate the adverse effects of clouds, atmospheric turbulence and other environmental conditions.
When light is transmitted through the air as in optical wireless systems like FSO (Free Space Optics), it must contend with the atmosphere. The fundamental limitation of FSO (Free Space Optics) communications arises from the environment through which it propagates. Although relatively unaffected by rain and snow, FSO (Free Space Optics) communication systems can be severely affected by clouds, fog, atmospheric turbulence and other environmental influences.