Comparative Study of Worst Month Rain Rate and Attenuation Statistics for Satellite Links in Nigeria

Abstract

This study aims to characterize the dynamic trend of the worst case scenario of rain rate and attenuation for satellite links applications in Nigeria. Rain rate data for four locations (Akure, Jos, Ikeja, and Port Harcourt) were obtained from the Tropospheric Data Acquisition Network at the Centre for Atmospheric Research, NASRDA at an integration time of 5 min from January 2013 to December 2014. The statistics of time series of worst month rain induced attenuation were computed using the method of Synthetic Storm Technique. The International Telecommunication Union model was found to overestimate the Q-factor in Akure, Port Harcourt, and Ikeja by 34%, 115%, and 50%, respectively while a 25% underestimation was observed in Jos. The results obtained in this study will be useful for location based link design in tropical Nigeria to reduce the uncertainty of specification of design for communication links.