{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T19:07:24Z","timestamp":1772824044277,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]],"date-time":"2023-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1683849600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2018YFB1802300"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018YFB1802300"]}]},{"name":"The National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["21511101400"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21511101400"]}]},{"name":"The National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["22511100600"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22511100600"]}]},{"name":"The National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2021QNRC001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021QNRC001"]}]},{"name":"The Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Shanghai","award":["2018YFB1802300"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018YFB1802300"]}]},{"name":"The Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Shanghai","award":["21511101400"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21511101400"]}]},{"name":"The Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Shanghai","award":["22511100600"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22511100600"]}]},{"name":"The Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Shanghai","award":["2021QNRC001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021QNRC001"]}]},{"name":"The Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CIC","award":["2018YFB1802300"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018YFB1802300"]}]},{"name":"The Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CIC","award":["21511101400"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["21511101400"]}]},{"name":"The Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CIC","award":["22511100600"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22511100600"]}]},{"name":"The Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CIC","award":["2021QNRC001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021QNRC001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>For maritime broadband communications, atmospheric ducts can enable beyond line-of-sight communications or cause severe interference. Due to the strong spatial\u2013temporal variability of atmospheric conditions in near-shore areas, atmospheric ducts have inherent spatial heterogeneity and suddenness. This paper aims to evaluate the effect of horizontally inhomogeneous ducts on maritime radio propagation through theoretical analysis and measurement validation. To make better use of meteorological reanalysis data, we design a range-dependent atmospheric duct model. Then, a sliced parabolic equation algorithm is proposed to improve the prediction accuracy of path loss. We derive the corresponding numerical solution and analyze the feasibility of the proposed algorithm under the range-dependent duct conditions. A 3.5 GHz long-distance radio propagation measurement is utilized to verify the algorithm. The spatial distribution characteristics of atmospheric ducts in the measurements are analyzed. Based on actual duct conditions, the simulation results are consistent with the measured path loss. The proposed algorithm outperforms the existing method during the multiple duct periods. We further investigate the influence of different duct horizontal characteristics on the received signal strength.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23104721","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,15]],"date-time":"2023-05-15T08:33:01Z","timestamp":1684139581000},"page":"4721","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["A Sliced Parabolic Equation Method to Characterize Maritime Radio Propagation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2124-3901","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuzhen","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China"},{"name":"School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0420-0566","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ting","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Microelectronics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China"},{"name":"Shanghai Frontier Innovation Research Institute, Shanghai 201100, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7152-1378","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tianheng","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China"},{"name":"Shanghai Frontier Innovation Research Institute, Shanghai 201100, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4665-5278","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Honglin","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3475","DOI":"10.1109\/JSAC.2021.3088692","article-title":"Hybrid Satellite-UAV-Terrestrial Networks for 6G Ubiquitous Coverage: A Maritime Communications Perspective","volume":"39","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE J. 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