Atmospheric Propagation Modelling for Terrestrial Radio Frequency Communication Links in a Tropical Wet and Dry Savanna Climate

Abstract

Atmospheric impairment-induced attenuation is the prominent source of signal degradation in radio wave communication channels. The computation-based modeling of radio wave attenuation over the atmosphere is the stepwise application of relevant radio propagation models, data, and procedures to effectively and prognostically estimate the losses of the propagated radio signals that have been induced by atmospheric constituents. This contribution aims to perform a detailed prognostic evaluation of radio wave propagation attenuation due to rain, free space, gases, and cloud over the atmosphere at the ultra-high frequency band. This aim has been achieved by employing relevant empirical atmospheric data and suitable propagation models for robust prognostic modeling using experimental measurements. Additionally, the extrapolative attenuation estimation results and the performance analysis were accomplished by engaging different stepwise propagation models and computation parameters often utilized in Earth–satellite and terrestrial communications. Results indicate that steady attenuation loss levels rise with increasing signal carrier frequency where free space is more dominant. The attenuation levels attained due to rain, cloud, atmospheric gases, and free space are also dependent on droplet depths, sizes, composition, and statistical distribution. While moderate and heavy rain depths achieved 3 dB and 4 dB attenuations, the attenuation due to light rainfall attained a 2.5 dB level. The results also revealed that attenuation intensity levels induced by atmospheric gases and cloud effects are less than that of rain. The prognostic-based empirical attenuation modeling results can provide first-hand information to radio transmission engineers on link budgets concerning various atmospheric impairment effects during radio frequency network design, deployment, and management, essentially at the ultra-high frequency band.

Assessment and Test-case Study of Wi-Fi Security through the Wardriving Technique

“…It is important to note that the views of [99][100][101][102][103] about various connectivity issues can affect the density and the overall evaluation of a wardriving result based on the variability of several issues highlighted in this paper. e wardriving approach is used in this work to crawl wider regions for examination [104][105][106].…”

Updating analysis of key performance indicators of 4G LTE network with the prediction of missing values of critical network parameters based on experimental data from a dense urban environment

“…Radio propagation measurements of key performance indicators (KPI) in a typical wireless communication network are critical to assessing the quality of service (QoS) of a functional wireless network [1] , [2] , [3] . It is pretty challenging to obtain all measurements parameters with complete details in practice [4] . Some parameters are often not logged or missing from actual measurements due to a significant distance between the transmitter and receiver and other dynamic environmental factors.…”

Evaluation of Radio Communication Links of 4G Systems

“…A concept related to that of gain is the effective area of an antenna, which connects to the size and shape of the antenna. The relationship between the gain and the effective area of the antenna is given by [ 14 ]: …”

“…At distance R, the power density p(R,θ,φ) (number of Watts/m 2 ) is given by [ 14 ]: p(R,θ,φ) = P a /4πR 2 [W/m 2 ] …”

“…(R) is the distance between the transmitter and the receiver. From the calculation of the sphere of the isotropic antenna and the definition of the antenna gain, it can be shown that the distance between the transmitter and the receiver introduces attenuation of the propagation due to free space (Afs) at [ 14 , 20 ]: Afs = 20 log(4πd/λ) [dB] …”