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Satellite Sun Interference

How does the sun cause interference to my satellite
reception?
Geostationary satellites are stationed at approximately 22,300
miles (36,000 kilometers) from Earth and located directly over the
equator. Given the equator is offset by 22.5 degrees, the sun INTELSAT'S HYBRID
aligns directly with satellites and receiving earth stations twice a CELLULAR BACKHAUL
year—once in the spring and once in the autumn (Figure 1). This WHITEPAPER
event is called a sun outage, and is also known as sun fade or
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sun transit. Hybrid
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The heat emitted by the sun is an intense source of noise radiated Whitepaper
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at all frequencies, including the frequency range communication
satellites use. That noise is called thermal noise. When the
sun—and its thermal noise—aligns perfectly with a satellite and
the receive antenna on the ground (line-of-sight), the the noise
floor, as seen by the receive earth station, is significant enough
that it rises above the satellite's carrier signal and causes a
temporary loss of reception (Figure 2).

A sun outage occurs because the earth station cannot distinguish

between the energy from the sun and its intended communication
signal. This is similar to when one is listening to a person talk
immediately adjacent to them and a loud noise suddenly drowns
out the voice of the person speaking, such that all that can be
heard is that loud noise, until the noise either stops or moves far
enough away to again hear the speaking person's voice.

Figure 1/Figure 2: The sun's thermal noise overpowers the signal

coming from the satellite.

The duration of the solar interference depends on the receive

antenna's location on the Earth, the satellite's orbital location
above the equator, the size of the receive antenna and the
reception frequency. These sun outages start with a signal loss
of only a few minutes. The outages start small—when the sun is
very near alignment with the satellite and the earth station.

The sun's thermal energy is strong enough to temporarily

interfere with the satellite signal and cause an outage as it
approaches direct alignment. Each day as the sun moves further
north, the sun's alignment with the satellite and earth station
move ever so slightly. As the sun becomes more aligned with the
satellite and the earth station on the ground, the outage duration

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increases. Peak outage time occurs when the sun, satellite and
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the earth station are exactly aligned with each other. The
interference declines gradually as the sun starts moving away
from the satellite and earth station alignment, until it is no longer
a factor—until the next interference season when the sun starts
heading south (northern hemispheric in autumn).

Given that all geostationary satellites are over the same

geographic plane—the equator—and orbiting at the same
distance, 22,300 miles or 36,000 kilometers, the sun outage will
apply to every antenna at a given location. For instance, if there
are four antennas looking at four different satellites (assuming the
dishes are of the same size and same frequency reception), the
solar outage will travel through all four satellites and antennas at
that location in the same day. The four events will happen at
different times of day for each satellite, as Earth's rotation creates
alignment.

The duration of the outage is inversely related to the size and

frequency of the satellite receive dish. The larger the antenna, the
shorter the duration and intensity of the outage. Similarly, the
smaller the dish, the great the duration and intensity.

For example, a 3.8 meter C-band receive antenna located in

Toronto, Ontario, Canada, receiving from Intelsat's Galaxy 16
satellite will have the following outages for the spring of 2010.

Spring Interference

Date Time (UTC) Duration

1 March 2010 18:55 5 minutes

2 March 2010 18:53 7 minutes

3 March 2010 18:53 8 minutes

4 March 2010 18:53 7 minutes

5 March 2010 18:54 4 minutes

Using the same example, when the dish size increases to 9

meters, the outage time decreases in both minutes and number of
days.

Spring Interference

Date Time (UTC) Duration

2 March 2010 18:55 4 minutes

3 March 2010 18:55 4 minutes

4 March 2010 18:55 3 minutes

Using the same 3.8 meter dish and C-band frequency noted
above, the sun interference in Los Angeles is noted in the below
chart. The interference starts four days later than in Toronto due
to Los Angeles being lower in latitude than Toronto, but has very
similar outage durations.

Spring Interference

Date Time (UTC) Duration

4 March 2010 18:34 5 minutes

5 March 2010 18:33 7 minutes

6 March 2010 18:32 8 minutes

7 March 2010 18:32 7 minutes

8 March 2010 18:33 4 minutes

One of the many valuable tools on MyIntelsat, the company's

customer extranet, includes an easy-to-use sun interference
calculator. To gain access to MyIntelsat, Intelsat customers should
connect with their Intelsat Sales Director or simply send an email
request to myintelsat@intelsat.com.

http://www.intelsat.com/resources/tech-talk/satellite-sun-interference.asp 20/03/2011