Doppler Shift Analysis in LEO Satellite Systems: A Ground-Station Perspective

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications are increasingly important for achieving low-latency global coverage. However, severe Doppler effects caused by high-speed movement and high-frequency operation pose significant challenges to system performance. We employ stochastic geometry to develop a statistical model for Doppler frequency shifts in satellite-terrestrial communication systems based on the binomial cluster process. For a ground station (GS), we establish a GS-centric orbital visibility model parameterized by the GS location and observation constraints. Additionally, we derive the cumulative distribution function expressions for the primary and secondary satellite-terrestrial links, as well as for the maximum Doppler shift within satellite clusters. Simulation results corroborate the analysis and reveal the impact of satellite clustering, orbital characteristics, and GS observation conditions on Doppler effects. Comparisons with real data further confirm that the proposed spatial model closely matches the Doppler distribution induced by realistic satellite geometries.