Experimental study of rain induced effects on microwave propagation at 20 and 30 GHz

Rain induced attenuation degrades the performance of communication systems. Thus the knowledge of rain-induced attenuation at the frequency of operation is necessary to design a reliable communication system at a particular location. Attenuation of radio waves by rain depends on the shape, size and distribution of raindrops and rate of rainfall (mm/hr). Hence this research work has been undertaken to study rain-induced effects on microwave propagation at 20 and 30 GHz at Amritsar for planning future earth-space communication links at these frequencies. Present research work envisaged collection of propagation data over line of sight links, radiometric data and meteorological data in the form of rainfall and raindrop size distribution. The data thus collected, using proposed experimental setup, have been analyzed for developing empirical models which are required to develop a statistical model for the prediction of rain induced slant path attenuation for our location which will help us to design an efficient and reliable terrestrial and satellite communication systems which will work for 99.99% of time.