Experimental research of angle-of-arrival fluctuations in free-space optical communications

A 24 h experimental measurement for angle-of-arrival fluctuations on a 3.2 km line-of-sight link in Harbin was carried out over a three-month period in 2006. In the experiment, the measurement over a 10 s period at a high sampling rate of 1 kHz was carried out per min, and the angle-of-arrival experimental data which contained the frequency range of 0.2~500 Hz were achieved. Angle-of-arrival fluctuations and its time-averaging effects were studied experimentally and theoretically. The experimental results provide information on the characteristics of angle-of-arrival fluctuations, which can provide important information for the design of free-space optical links. The results show that the intensity of the angle-of-arrival fluctuation in the haze weather and low visibility is smaller than t