Investigation of the path reduction factor on terrestrial links for the development of a physically-based rain attenuation model

Abstract

This contribution investigates the path reduction factor (PF) on terrestrial links, a typical element of rain attenuation prediction models, introduced to take into due account the spatial inhomogeneity of rainfall. A large number of PF values are calculated by simulating the interaction of a hypothetical terrestrial link with a set of realistic rain fields synthesized by MultiEXCELL. The dependence of PF on different quantities such as the path length, the operational frequency, and the rain rate measured at the transmitter, is addressed. Based on that, the contribution also illustrates the preliminary modeling steps oriented to the development of a new analytical methodology for the physically-based prediction of the rain attenuation affecting terrestrial links.