Seasonal Variations of Polarization Diversity Gain in a Vegetated Area considering High Elevation Angles and a Nomadic User

Seasonal variations of the polarization diversity gain are addressed for a nomadic user in a vegetated area taking high elevation angles and nongeostationary satellites into consideration. Corresponding experimental data were obtained at a frequency of 2.0 GHz at Stromovka Park in Prague, the Czech Republic, within the full in-leaf and out-of-leaf periods of 2013 and 2014, respectively. By detecting copolarized and cross-polarized components of the transmitted left- and right-handed circularly polarized signals, the corresponding diversity gain was obtained for multiple-input single-output (MISO), single-input multiple-output (SIMO), and combined MISO/SIMO cases. It was found that tree defoliation results in a significant decrease of the polarization diversity gain achieved for low time percentages in particular scenarios.