Comparative analysis of rain attenuation models in satellite links

Abstract

This study presents the analysis and simulation of rain attenuation models in satellite links in Umuahia metropolis. Rain attenuation is a major source of impairment to signal propagation at microwave and millimeter wavebands. It can cause a distorting effect on signal quality at higher frequencies leading to digital transmission errors. The knowledge of rain attenuation and its performance is essential in order to optimize system capacity and meet quality and reliability. Basic climate data were obtained from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency for a period of Twelve years and Umuahia geographical location was considered in this study. The computer simulation was carried out using Matlab. There are many rain attenuation prediction models for satellite links such as International Telecommunication Union- Recommendation (ITU-R) model, Dissanayake, Allnutt, and Haidara (DAH) model and Ajayi model. The ITU-R model was generally observed in 2016 to have recorded the highest value of rain attenuation of 0.1399dB which was followed by DAH model, 0.2264dB and Ajayi model showed the least value rain attenuation of 0.00371dB of all the models investigated in Umuahia geographical location. Therefore, Ajayi prediction model is overall best model and was closely followed by DAH and ITU-R models, respectively in Umuahia metropolis.