Statistical evaluation of measured rain attenuation in tropical climate and comparison with prediction models

• Main Authors: Yusuf, A. A., Falade, A., Olufeagba, B. J., Mohammed, O. O., Rahman, T. A.
• Format: Article
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Microondas e Optoeletronica (SBMO) 2016
• Subjects: TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/72461/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84974686101&doi=10.1590%2f2179-10742016v15i2624&partnerID=40&md5=a6441b3ee3ae75a0d7cad61097851d09

Substantial modifications have been made to the expressions for calculating distance factor and extrapolation techniques in the latest ITU-R P.530-14. However, its performance has not been rigorously evaluated in the tropical and equatorial climates. In this article, the new ITU-R method and three prediction models are validated using measurement data from tropical Malaysian climate. The data were collected on six geographically spread terrestrial microwave DIGI MINI-LINKs operating at 15 GHz. When tested against measurements, the Da Silva Mello model yields a significant improvement for the prediction of rain attenuation distributions. The prediction errors observed in the ITU-R model suggest the need for more data campaign in the afore-mentioned climates.