RAINFALL RATE MODELING FOR LOS RADIO SYSTEMS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The cumulative distributions of rain intensity for 12 locations in South Africa are presented in this paper based on 5-year rainfall data. The rainfall rate having an integration time of 60 minutes is converted to the ITU-R recommended integration time of 1 minute for Durban in South Africa. Consequently, values of coefficients a and b so determined are used to convert 60-minute into 1-minute rain rates for other regions of South Africa. The resulting cumulative rain intensities are compared with the relevant ITU-R Recommendation P837. Based on this, an additional three rain zones are determined alongside the five ITU-R rain zones for South Africa.