Using Site Diversity to Minimize Weather Disturbances

A solution widely adopted to minimize adverse environmental (weather) effects is site diversity which involves deploying OGS (Optical Ground Links) in geographic locations carefully selected to minimize the probability of disturbances by adverse weather. For example, a single OGS (Optical Ground Links) site may be available anywhere from 30% of the time in Central Europe to 80% of the time in beneficial weather locations. The site diversity approach is adopted by BridgeSat, Laser Light, Hughes and Analytical Space; and is likely to be adopted by any organization deploying an OSN (Optical Service Network).

While having multiple potential OGS (Optical Ground Links) in varied locations improves the likelihood of establishing a successful link, tremendous advantages can also be made by choosing the precise location of each OGS (Optical Ground Links) to minimize the likelihood of the link being adversely affected by weather.  Weather patterns can be analyzed to determine, in aggregate, which combination of geographic ground sites will enable the transmission of the largest amount of data, to the greatest potential population, with the most reliability. For example considerations are given to sites with relatively close proximity, but which are unlikely to be obscured by poor weather at the same time; essentially where adverse weather is likely to clear one site before that weather condition affects another site.