Analysis of rain fade slope for Ka and V-band satellite links in Southern England

The fade slope of rain attenuation at Sparsholt, U.K. has been measured for a link with the ITALSAT F1 and F2 satellites at frequencies of 18.7, 39.6, and 49.5 GHz and compared with the corresponding ITU-R model. The model fits the data well visually with a tendency to be less accurate with increasing frequency due to the assumption of constant scaling of equiprobable attenuations being less accurate at higher frequencies. The probability distribution used in the model fails a chi-squared test for all confidence levels when compared with the data. Conditional statistics of fade slope on a diurnal and seasonal basis are also analyzed and reveal that the autumn season has higher fade slopes than any other, which can in part be attributed to the higher ratio of stratiform to convective rain in the autumn season. Fade slope was found to have slightly higher values during midday.     

Refinement of the Subthreshold Slope Modeling for Advanced Bulk CMOS Devices

We present here a simple analytical model of the subthreshold slope of CMOS devices that successfully describes the long-channel plateau, the initial improvement for medium gate lengths, and the final degradation for short gate lengths. The model is based on the voltage-doping transformation (VDT) that leads to a new term in the subthreshold slope expression, explaining the degradation of the slope at very short channels. The potential minimum at the virtual cathode was expressed using a semiempirical expression that allows our model to fit to data that were extracted from simulation in a wide range of device parameters. Finally, the new slope model successfully reproduced experimental data that were measured on devices based on 90- and 65-nm technologies, demonstrating the validity of our model for advanced bulk CMOS technologies.     

Modelling of Drop Size Distribution of Rain from Rain Rate and Attenuation Measurements at Millimeter and Optical Wavelengths

This paper describes a technique for modelling of rain drop size distributions at Calcutta in terms of negative exponential function, from the measurements of rain rate and attenuation over a dual wavelength LOS link at millimeter and optical frequencies. The DSD model obtained is then used to determine the attenuation at 94 GHz, for comparison with experimentally obtained attenuation at 94 GHz. This is also compared with the attenuation calculated by considering other experimentally obtained DSD models. The best fit negative exponential distribution function (modified M-P model) is presented along with some other experimentally obtained and reference models.     

Attenuation of Centimetre, Millimetre and Sub-Millimetre Waves Due to Rain Over Tropical Indian Stations

The results on attenuation of the radio wave due to rain at frequencies lying in the centimetre, millimetre and submillimetre wave bands for different rain rates over three Indian tropical stations are presented in this paper. The study is possible due to the availability of the rainfall rates measured by rapid response rain gauges and rain height over these stations. The results on attenuation were deduced by taking both 0° C isotherm height and effective height. The Stutzman and Dishman model with γ -value of 0.033 which is found suitable for the estimation of rain attenuation over the Indian stations has been critically examined in comparison with the attenuations deduced from CCIR (presently known as ITU-R) method.     

5G毫米波短距离链路雨衰减特性分析

雨衰减严重影响第5代(the 5th Generation,5G)移动通信系统性能.在路径长度小于1 km的短距离链路情况下,现有雨衰减预测模型调整因子大于1,导致预测雨衰减随路径变短而增大,无法支撑毫米波短距离链路系统设计.通过分析国际电信联盟无线电通信部(Radiocommunication Sector of International Telecommunication Union,ITU-R)短距离链路雨衰减试验数据,发现湿天线衰减与路径雨衰减相当,得到毫米波短距离链路必须考虑湿天线衰减的结论.建立了湿天线衰减与降雨率的关系模型,分频段对模型参数进行了拟合,拟合结果与实测数据吻合得较好.提出了考虑湿天线衰减的短距离雨衰减建模新思路,可解决短距离雨衰减预测问题.研究结果有助于提高5G毫米波系统余量设计的可靠性.     

UWB雷达杂波物理建模与仿真分析

利用子带合成和物理平板模型,将超宽带(UWB)雷达分别在不同地貌(植被或裸地)和中心频率条件下进行地杂波建模、仿真、杂波统计分布拟合及其分析。通过获得的杂波仿真数据拟合出地杂波的统计模型,分析发现:UWB雷达地杂波随着地貌或中心频率的变化,杂波并不服从同种统计分布;但统计分布具有低重心和重拖尾的共性,且随着相对带宽的增加,拖尾加重。仿真结果与UWB雷达杂波定性分析的规律基本符合。     

Microwave Dielectric Properties of Plant Materials

Three waveguide transmission systems covering the 1-2, 3.5-6.5, and 7.5-8.5 GHz bands were used to measure the dielectric properties of vegetation material as a function of moisture content and microwave frequency. The materials measured included, primarily, the leaves and stalks of corn and wheat. Dielectric measurements also were made of the liquid included in the vegetation material after it was extracted from the vegetation by mechanical means. The extracted liquids were found to have an equivalent NaCl salinity of about 10 per mil, which can have a significant effect on the dielectric loss at frequencies below 5 GHz. The results of attempts to model the dielectric constant of the vegetation-water mixture in terms of the dielectric constants and volume fractions of its constituent parts (i. e., bulk vegetation, air, bound water, and free water) are discussed. Additionally, measurements of the temporal variations in the total attenuation at 10.2 GHz are presented for a corn canopy and a soybean canopy.     

Statistical analysis of rain fade slope

An analysis is made of the measured distributions of the fade slope of rain attenuation, conditional for attenuation values, measured at Eindhoven University of Technology from the satellite Olympus. It is found that the distribution is similar for positive and negative fade slopes and independent of frequency in the range from 12 to 30 GHz. A distribution model for the conditional distribution is found. The only parameter of the distribution is the standard deviation, which is found to be proportional to attenuation level and dependent on rain type, on the low-pass filter bandwidth and on the time interval used in the slope calculation. The observed relation between the standard deviation and attenuation is compared with results from other measurement sites. From this comparison it is found that the fade slope standard deviation is likely to depend on elevation angle and on climate, through its dependence on rain type.     

In vivo high-frequency ultrasonic characterization of human dermis

The aim of this study is in vivo skin tissue characterization of young and old human cutaneous tissues by estimating the slope of the attenuation coefficient. The method used is the centroid algorithm with a second-order autoregressive model to perform the spectral analysis. Backscattered signals are acquired with a 40-MHz transducer fixed on a three-dimensional robot. Diffraction phenomena are eliminated via an axial translation of the transducer that allows the acquisition of the signal in the focal zone. The slope of the attenuation coefficient is estimated on phantoms of known attenuation, in order to validate the method. Preliminary measurements of the slope of the attenuation coefficient are subsequently performed in the echographic mode on abdominal human skin samples in vitro at 40 MHz. After assessing the reproducibility of the measurement of the attenuation coefficient slope in human dermis at 40-MHz in vivo, this is carried out on the volar face of the forearm of 150 healthy subjects aged 14-85 yr. The values measured range from 0.7 to 3.6 dB/cm.MHz. The main result of this study is the decrease with advancing age of the attenuation coefficient slope, which may reflect structural modifications of human dermis with age.     

Rainfall propagation impairments for medium elevation angle satellite‐to‐earth 12 GHz in the tropics

Rain attenuation is the dominant propagation impairment for satellite communication systems operating at frequencies above about 10 GHz. The rainfall path attenuation at 12.255 GHz measured at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) for 4 years (2 January to 5 December) is presented. This paper presents an empirical analysis of rain rate and rain attenuation cumulative distribution functions obtained using 1‐min integrated rainfall data and comparison of the measured data with data obtained from well‐established rain model attenuation predictions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

水基附着介质罩对毫米波衰减的理论分析与实验研究

本文主要研究多种可能出现的天线罩水基附着介质对毫米波所产生的衰减.本文采用一个四层介质模型来模拟水附着在天线罩上的情况,根据Fresnel方程得到150 GHz和298 GHz电磁波衰减模型,通过测量纯水对毫米波所产生的衰减验证模型的正确性;再测量雨水、海水所产生的衰减,分析常见水基附着介质对毫米波所产生的衰减;最后测量不同盐度的海水对毫米波所产生的衰减,分析了海水盐度对衰减的影响.实验结果证明毫米波的衰减随着天线罩上附着水层厚度的增加呈现出较为规律性增长,而此衰减受中水中溶解物（微小颗粒和盐度）的影响较小.本文对毫米波雷达在雨天等复杂室外条件下的应用具有一定的指导作用.     

Derivation of parameters of Y-Z power-law relation from raindrop size distribution measurements and its application in the calculation of rain attenuation from radar reflectivity factor measurements

The work reported herein empirically derived the coefficients of the power-law relation between the specific attenuation Y and each of two other quantities: the radar reflectivity factor Z and the rainfall rate R. The derivation was accomplished using raindrop size distributions (DSDs) measured in Montreal and Toronto using the precipitation occurrence sensor system (POSS) and a Joss-Waldvogel disdrometer (JWD). The specific attenuation was calculated for both spherical and oblate spheroidal raindrops. Prior to doing so, the effects of inaccuracies in small drop detection by the two systems on the resulting Y-Z and Y-R relations were examined. In computing the relations, the influence of grouping the DSDs according to the corresponding values of Z was assessed. The results from the two sites were then combined in a regression analysis to determine the coefficients of the power-law expressions. The final expressions were used to calculate the probability distribution of rain attenuation over several path lengths at 30 GHz. Conclusions that can be drawn from this work include that (i) the uncertainties in the measurements of small drops do not appear to be critical to the derived relations for some frequencies considered in this work, (ii) in computing rain attenuation estimates from radar reflectivity factors, different criteria for grouping the reflectivity factor measurements can be adopted without changing the statistics of the corresponding attenuation estimates, (iii) differences, which are the smallest for frequencies around 20-30 GHz, are observed in the coefficients derived from the measured DSDs compared with those recommended by the ITU-R, and (iv) the attenuation statistics at 30 GHz computed by applying the Y-Z power-law expression are resistant to spatial averaging.     

Measurements of rainfall attenuation at 8 and 15 GHz

Measurements of attenuation at frequencies of 8 and 15 GHz, and their correlation with rainfall rate, along a 15.78 km path near Ottawa, are described. Empirical expressions which relate the observed attenuation to the measured rainfall rate are derived and compared with similar expressions obtained on the basis of earlier theoretical studies of the problem. It is concluded that while the theoretical predictions of attenuation in rain are reasonably satisfactory, at least for rains observed at Ottawa, there is a definite tendency for observed attenuations at low rainfall rates to be somewhat higher than the expected values. The cumulative distribution of rainfall attenuation over a six-month period is compared with the attenuation predicted on the basis of average rainfall data obtained during the last five years. Although the agreement between observation and prediction, using the theoretical relation between rainfall rate and attenuation, is good for path attenuations greater than 2 dB, it can be greatly improved if the empirical expression relating rainfall rate to attenuation is used.     

Tropical raindrop size distribution for the prediction of rainattenuation of microwaves in the 10-40 GHz band

This paper describes the measurement of microwave rain attenuation over a ten-year period (1988-1998) in Singapore. The rain attenuation of (vertically and horizontally polarized) microwaves at 15, 21, and 38 GHz propagating over a path length of approximately 1.1 km were recorded. A negative-exponential raindrop size distribution model is then developed by fitting of the experimental data with the total extinction cross sections of oblate spheroidal raindrops computed from the T-matrix approach. Graphs for attenuation versus rain rate (at selected frequencies) and for attenuation versus frequency (at selected rain rates) are also given     

The effect of small topographic variations on reflectance

The influence of topography on the bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs) of vegetation canopies is commonly neglected when retrieving canopy parameters by inversion of reflectance models. However, the nonlinear dependence of vegetation BRFs on slope magnitude and orientation means that topography cannot necessarily be assumed to have an insignificant effect, even when slopes are small. The study presented here shows that, at a Sun zenith angle of 60°, the reflectance of a set of terrain elements may differ from that of horizontal terrain by more than 10% at forward scattering directions for slopes of 10° or less. The errors may also be strongly correlated to observation conditions, which raises questions about using least squares minimization schemes to find the best fit between measured and modeled reflectance data     

Predictions of radiowave attenuations due to a melting layer ofprecipitation

A melting layer model related to the physical constants and meteorological parameters is employed in this investigation. The specific phase shift, together with the specific attenuation, is computed at 1-100 GHz by using the Mie theory. The additional zenith attenuation, which is the difference between zenith attenuation due to the melting layer and attenuation due to the same thickness of the resulting rain, is comprehensively studied. The ratio of the difference to rain zenith attenuation may be over 1 at 1-5 GHz although the difference is much less than 1 dB. The difference can be over 1 dB at frequencies above 20 GHz. A minimum of the ratio is below 0.05 at frequencies about 40-60 GHz but the ratio can become a value of about 0.1 at 100 GHz. The additional attenuation should be taken into account in satellite-Earth communications and radar remote sensing. The power law parameters of the average specific attenuation of the melting layer and rain specific attenuation are tabulated for three raindrop size distributions at rain rates of below 25 mm/h. The power law method could be utilized in the additional attenuation calculation. It is a good approximation of the Mie theory results at 1-50 GHz and a useful estimate at 50-100 GHz     

Frequency scaling of slant-path attenuation in tropical regions

Measured slant-path attenuation data currently available do not cover every eventuality, thus requiring the use of scaling algorithms to produce estimates of the transmission parameters at a particular site. Several multiple frequency propagation experiments have been conducted over the same path, and the resultant data have been used to derive frequency-scaling models of path attenuation. Most of these experiments have been conducted in temperate latitudes, and there is some doubt that the scaling models will fit other latitudes, particularly those subject to severe rain climates. James Cook University of North Queensland, Australia has been operating a number of radiometers as part of an experiment conducted for INTELSAT. The radiometers used in this experiment operate at 7·5, 11·6, 19·5 and 28·5 GHz with a common azimuth and an elevation angle of 63°. This paper compares the results at the various frequencies with an existing frequency-scaling model and comments on the comparison.     

Measurments of attenuation and refractive dispersion due to atmospheric water vapor at 80 and 240 GHz

Field line-of-sight propagation experiments were made at 80 and 240 GHz on a horizontal path of 810 m. The measured attenuations showed quadratic dependences on atmospheric water vapor density, and absorptions in excess of theoretical predictions were observed at both frequencies, while the measured refractive dispersion between these two frequencies showed a linear dependence on water vapor density and was in good agreement with theoretical prediction. Liebe's model for water vapor attenuation including empirical continuum absorption is confirmed to be effective for 80 and 240 GHz.     

First attempts at modelling earth-to-space radio propagation using SIRIO measurements in the 11 and 18 GHz bands

A bi-dimensional statistical model for earth-to-space radio links, characterized by effective rain rates and rain path lengths is proposed. These parameters refer to an equivalent homogeneous slab of rain having depth and rain rate such as to produce similar values of measured attenuations. Input data for the present study were attenuation data at 11.6 GHz (absolute and differential over a 520 MHz band) and 17 GHz, collected by the Sirio satellite: these data were found to be jointly log-normally distributed as were the effective rain rate and path length. A straightforward application of the model is the extrapolation of attenuation statistics to higher frequencies: the effectiveness of the method, when applied to 11.6 GHz data is tested against the data at 17 GHz; both the statistics and the time profiles are excellently reproduced. This suggests the use of a differential radiometer working at a relatively low frequency in order to acquire reliable higher frequency statistics and effective model parameters.     

Cloud Liquid Water Content and Cloud Attenuation Studies with Radiosonde Data at a Tropical Location

The profile of cloud liquid water density and the total liquid water content (LWC) are obtained from the radiosonde data using the Salonen model at Kolkata, India, a tropical location. The cumulative distribution LWC shows a departure from the ITU-R model at this location, exhibiting a significantly enhanced occurrence during the monsoon months. The cloud attenuation, derived by integrating the profile of specific attenuation obtained from the radiosonde data, is related to LWC at different frequencies in the range 10-100 GHz. A comparison indicates that the cloud attenuation at frequencies below 50 GHz is somewhat overestimated by the ITU-R model generated values and significantly underestimated by the ITU-R model at frequencies above 70 GHz at the present location.