JPL DESCANSO - Deep Space Communications and Navigation Center of Excellence

DESCANSO NASA Propagation Program

The objectives of the NASA Propagation Program at JPL, carried out in past years by many individuals at many institutions, were to enable the development of new commercial satellite communication systems and services by providing timely data and models about propagation of satellite radio signals through the intervening environment and to support NASA missions for high rate knowledge delivery communications technology. In partnership with industry and academia, the program leverages unique NASA assets to obtain propagation data to serve the NASA propagation community. The findings of the study are disseminated through refereed journals, NASA reference publications, workshops, electronic media, and direct interface with industry.


The program is now complete. Here are selected major publications documenting research results of this program.


  1. Ka-Band Studies
    1. Proceedings of NAPEX XXIII and ACTS Workshop
      Edited by Nasser Golshan and Christian Ho, Falls Church, Virginia, June 2-4, 1999
    2. Proceedings of the 11th ACTS Workshop
      Edited by Nasser Golshan and Christian Ho, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, October 22-23, 1998
    3. Proceedings of NAPEX XX and ACTS Mini workshop
      Edited by Nasser Golshan, Fairbanks, Alaska, June 4-6, 1996
    4. Proceedings of NAPEX XIX and APSW VII
      Edited by Faramaz Davarian, Fort Collins, Colorado, June 14-15, 1995
    5. Estimation of Microwave Power Margin Losses Due to Earth's Atmosphere and Weather in the Frequency Range of 3-30 GHz
      Christian M. Ho, Charles Wang, Kris Angkasa, and Kelly Gritton, 2004
    6. Ka-Band Propagation Model Based on High Resolution ACTS Data
      Kelly Gritton, Christian Ho, and Robert Crane, 2004
    7. Atmospheric Noise Temperature Induced by Clouds and Other Weather Phenomena at SHF Band (1-45 GHz)
      Christian Ho, Stephen Slobin and Kelly Gritton, 2005
    8. Atmospheric Noise Attenuation /Scintillation Effects on Ka-band Signals due to Clouds: Experimental and Theoretical Studies
      Christian M. Ho, 2005
  2. NASA Propagation Handbooks
    1. JPL Publication 02-5
      Radio Wave Propagation Handbook for Communication on and Around Mars,
      Christian Ho, Nasser Golshan, and Arvydas Kliore, March 1, 2002.
      Full Version (pdf - 5.3 MB)
      View by Section
    2. NASA Reference Publication 1108(02)
      Propagation Effects on Satellite Systems at Frequencies Below 10 GHz, A Handbook for Satellite Systems Design (Second Edition)
      Warren L. Flock, 1987
    3. NASA Reference Publication 1082(04)
      Propagation Effects Handbook for Satellite Systems Design, A Summary of Propagation Impairments to 10 to 100 GHz Satellite Links With Techniques for System Design (Fourth Edition)
      Louis J. Ippolito, 1989
    4. NASA Reference Publication 1274
      Propagation Effects for Land Mobile Satellite Systems: Overview of Experimental and Modeling Results
      Julius Goldhirsh and Wolfhard J. Vogel, 1992
  3. Online Propagation Models
    Propagation database 6.0 (xla - 753 kb) [Help Pages]
    Anil Kantak, May 1, 2001
    [This version of the Propagation Database is only compatible with Microsoft Excel 2000 or earlier]