Prediction of Q-Band Rain Attenuation Statistics Using Frequency Scaling Models for Temperate Location, Vigo, Spain

The prediction of yearly rain attenuation statistics at Q-band is made from Ka-band measurement for a temperate location, Vigo, Spain, using different frequency scaling models. The validity of the different frequency scaling models is tested for the present location by graphical comparison between measurement and prediction and also in terms of mean, standard deviation, and root mean square errors (RMSE). The Battesti model performs better compared to other existing frequency scaling models, RMSE is only 4.16% and 5.52% for the periods July 2016 to June 2017 and July 2017 to June 2018 respectively. The proposed new power law model increases the accuracy of the prediction for which the RMSE error is 1.09% and 2.17% less compared to the Battesti model for the periods July 2016 to June 2017 and July 2017 to June 2018, respectively. In predicting monthly statistics, the proposed model performs better compared to the Battesti model for all the months except December, January, and February. While predicting monthly statistics, for the proposed model, the maximum and minimum prediction errors are 18.50% and 0.39%, respectively. For the prediction of diurnal statistics, the proposed model performs better compared to the Battesti model with a very small prediction error, less than 4% for both days. The present study can be useful in the design and planning of satellite communication links in present or similar climatic regions for estimating rain attenuation at Q band or above, for which the experimental setup's cost is very high and requires a large receiver margin.