Analysis of scintillation effects along a 7  km urban space laser communication path

In this study, the scintillation effects along a 7 km space laser communication path in an urban area were examined, including the relationship between the scintillation and bit error rate and the variation of the scintillation index with changes in the transmitting and receiving apertures. It was concluded that multi-aperture transmitting technology can effectively reduce the scintillation caused by atmospheric turbulence. For the investigated urban link, the scintillation index could meet the communication requirements for adjusting the receiving aperture. These results will facilitate space laser communication improvement and turbulence suppression along horizontal urban paths.