Studies have been reported in the literature on High Frequency (HF) radio channels in mid-latitude areas more frequently than in low-latitude areas. Ionosphere as a reflector of HF radio waves in low-latitude areas might behave differently from that in mid-latitude. This paper reports a statistical model of sky wave HF channel complex impulse response and its parameters, such as channel gain, path gain, phase shift, and delay spread statistics, derived from both simulation and measurement of a 3044 km link in Indonesia. From the evaluations it can be concluded that the multipaths observed with respect to their propagation delays form multiple clusters corresponding to their propagation modes. The channel gain is found to follow Rayleigh distribution, whereas the rms and maximum delay spread exhibit Rayleigh and Gaussian distributions, respectively. This model can be used in performance evaluation of digital communication schemes in low-latitude HF channels.
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