Case Study of the Rain Attenuation at Ka Band

Abstract

This paper presents one year rain rate intensity and rain attenuation at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Communication systems operating at frequencies above 10 GHz in equatorial climates are subjected to many fade occurrences due to heavy rain. Measurement of rain attenuation at Ku-band will be used to estimate the rain attenuation at Ka-band. The Ramachandran and Kumar model was used to calculate rain attenuation at Ka-band. Rain rate analysis using 1-minute data measurement at USM shows that the rain rate exceeded 110 mm/h for 0.01% of a year (R _0.01). Simultaneous rain attenuation (A _0.01) at Ku-band was at 18 dB and by using the predicted model, the rain attenuation at Ka-band was found to be 30 dB at 0.01% of time rain attenuation exceeded.