Rainfall Estimation Using Commercial Microwave Links (CMLs) Attenuations: Analyse of Extreme Event of 1 st September 2009 in Ouagadougou

Abstract

With the exponential increasing of mobile phone users, the CML network in West Africa is growing, and thus providing a high potential for CML-derived precipitation measurements. In this work we use the performances data of the CMLs to determine the rainfall quantities of the rainy event which marked the memory of the inhabitants of the capital Ouagadougou on September 1 st , 2009. In this study we use the attenuation of a microwave link to establish the rain rate. The working frequency is 13 GHz, the path length 7.5 Km and vertical polarization. The time series of attenuation are transformed into rain rates and compared with rain gauge data. The method has successful in quantifying the rainfall. The correlation between 1 hour data of the microwave link and the rain gauge is 0.63. The cumulative rainfall bias during the event less than 5%. These results demonstrate the opportunity to use the microwave backhauling in mobile network to assess rainfall in Africa in this context where the hydrometeorological risk increases every day.