Comparison of 1-minute rainfall rate distributions for tropical and equatorial climates

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Singh, Mandeep Singh Jit | Hassan, Syed Idris Syed

Affiliations: Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Seberang Perai Selatan, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia E-mail: mandeep_s75@yahoo.com; ssyed@eng.usm.my

Abstract: For ground to space radio links, the influence of rainfall on slant path propagation at frequencies above 10 GHz is crucial, especially in tropical and equatorial regions. For the prediction of rainfall attenuation it is necessary to determine the 1-minute rainfall rate distribution. Rainfall rate data acquired from five multiple sites are analyzed to investigate the statistical stability of the cumulative distribution of rainfall rate. The five sites are university research institutions in the Pacific tropical zone. The measured cumulative rainfall rate distributions are compared with the Rice-Holmberg, ITU, Moupfouma, Gamma and Lognormal models. The Moupfouma model was found to be best fit with the measured data.

Keywords: Rainfall rate, wavelength, rain attenuation, propagation of radio waves

Journal: Space Communications, vol. 19, no. 3-4, pp. 193-198, 2004