ELM-based impact analysis of meteorological parameters on the radio transmission of X-band over the Qiongzhou Strait of China

Communication in the evaporation duct layer is greatly affected by the variation of meteorological parameters. Based on the experimental result of the radio transmission of the X-band over the Qiongzhou Strait of China, the characteristic of the duct and its influence on the transmission effect is analyzed. The results indicate that the evaporation duct height (EDH) has a negative Spearman's rank correlation of −0.90 with the relative humidity and a positive correlation coefficient of 0.84 with the wind speed. Based on the Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) network, we proposed a Met-ELM model that can provide efficient support in predicting propagation characteristics at nighttime. The predicted results of the MetELM model are consistent with the measurements; the root-mean-square-error is 1.66 dB, with the correlation coefficient reaching 0.96, while the proportion of mean absolute error less than 2 dB has reached 81.41%. The data-derived Met-ELM model shows great accuracy in predicting propagation characteristics at nighttime, which also meets the acceptable requirements for radio wave propagation.