Measurements and Modeling of Air-Ground Integrated Channel in Forest Environment Based on OFDM Signals

TL;DR

This study conducts air-ground channel measurements in a forest environment using OFDM signals, develops propagation models, and analyzes key channel parameters to improve communication reliability for rescue operations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement campaign and modeling of air-ground and ground-ground channels in forest environments using OFDM signals at 1.4 GHz.

Findings

Proposed path loss models outperform existing models in accuracy.

Tree crowns significantly obstruct A2G signal propagation.

Adjusting elevation angles improves communication quality.

Abstract

Forests are frequently impacted by climate conditions, vegetation density, and intricate terrain and geology, which contribute to natural disasters. Personnel engaged in or supporting rescue operations in such environments rely on robust communication systems to ensure their safety, highlighting the criticality of channel measurements in forest environments. However, according to current research, there is limited research on channel detection and modeling in forest areas in the existing literature. This paper describes the channel measurements campaign of air and ground in the Arxan National Forest Park of Inner Mongolia. It presents measurement results and propagation models for ground-to-ground (G2G) and air-to-ground (A2G) scenarios. The measurement campaign uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signals centered at 1.4 GHz for channel sounding. In the G2G measurement, in addition to using omnidirectional antennas to record data, we also use directional antennas to record the arrival angle information of the signal at the receiver. In the A2G measurement, we pre-plan the flight trajectory of the unmanned aerial vehicle so that it can fly at a fixed angle relative to the ground. We present path loss models suitable for G2G and A2G in forest environments based on the analysis of measurement results. The results indicate that the proposed model reduces error margins compared with other path loss models. Furthermore, we derive the multipath model expression specific to forest environments and conduct statistical analysis on key channel parameters e.g., shadow fading factor, root mean square delay spread, and Rician K factor. Our findings reveal that signal propagation obstruction due to tree crowns in A2G communication is more pronounced than tree trunk obstructions in G2G communication. Adjusting the elevation angle between air and ground can enhance communication quality.