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The effect of variation in atmospheric absorption on millimetric, terrestrial, telecommunications links

Paulson, K. S.

Authors

K. S. Paulson



Abstract

When planning the link budget for millimeter and submillimeter wave telecommunications links, the attenuation by atmospheric gasses is taken into account. However, at millimetric frequencies above 50 GHz it may become necessary to account for the temporal variations in absorption when calculating fade margins. Attenuation due to atmospheric absorption varies with temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity, and the amplitude of variation can become significant compared to rain fade margins. This paper examines the variation in absorption between 10 and 1000 GHz derived from meteorological time series. This variation is compared to the attenuation time series experienced by two experimental, 5-km links operating at 54.5 and 56.5 GHz in the southern United Kingdom. A method is developed to predict the average annual distribution of specific attenuation due to atmospheric absorption, based on easily obtainable meteorological parameters. A further method is developed to integrate this variation into existing models of annual fade distribution, and these results are compared to measured distributions.

Citation

Paulson, K. S. (2005). The effect of variation in atmospheric absorption on millimetric, terrestrial, telecommunications links. Radio science, 40(6), Article RS6004. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004RS003218

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 14, 2005
Online Publication Date Nov 15, 2005
Publication Date 2005-12
Journal RADIO SCIENCE
Print ISSN 0048-6604
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 40
Issue 6
Article Number RS6004
DOI https://doi.org/10.1029/2004RS003218
Keywords Radio propagation; Absorption; Atmospheric gases; Terrestrial links; Annual statistics
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/391384
Publisher URL https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2004RS003218