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Characterization of rain heights due to 0° isotherm in tropical and subtropical climates: implication on rain-induced attenuation prediction

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Abstract

In this paper, the dynamics of the structure of the rain profile as related to the zero-degree isotherm height and the implications for attenuation prediction along the Earth-space propagation links at locations in Nigeria, a tropical region, and South Africa, a subtropical region, are presented. Five-year (January 2010–December 2014) precipitation data on board the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite have been analyzed over some selected locations in the two regions. The influences of the zero-degree isotherm height on some observed weather parameters are also discussed. The result on the influence of air temperature on rain height hr shows a significant increase in the tropical environment as compared with those in the subtropics. However, when hr results are compared with those obtained using rain height as recommended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there is a significant difference at the 0.01% unavailability of the signal in a year particularly at higher frequencies. Further comparison with the slant path attenuation at 0.01% unavailability of the signal in a year shows a slight deviation (between 1.04 and 2.13 dB) in rain height than those acquired using the measured rain height in the tropical locations. Nevertheless, the result is slightly less than those obtained using the measured rain height in the subtropical locations with the differences in dB between − 0.49 and − 1.18. The overall results will be useful for estimating the link budgeting for digital radio satellite broadcasting. It will also be applicable for radar propagation systems at higher-frequency bands in Nigeria and South Africa.

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Acknowledgements

The authors will like to express their gratitude to the following organizations: NASA Goddard Space Flight, Centre Earth Enterprise Distributed Active Archive Centre (GES DAAC), South African Weather Stations, and Nigerian Meteorological Station for assessing the data used. One of the authors, JSO, also acknowledges one of his students—Omokaji Odiba.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology Akure, Akure, P.M.B 704, Nigeria

    J. S. Ojo

  2. Department of Computer System Engineering, Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa

    P. A. Owolawi

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  1. J. S. Ojo
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  2. P. A. Owolawi
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Correspondence to J. S. Ojo.

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Ojo, J.S., Owolawi, P.A. Characterization of rain heights due to 0° isotherm in tropical and subtropical climates: implication on rain-induced attenuation prediction. Theor Appl Climatol 135, 331–340 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-018-2382-z

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