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Rain Attenuation Prediction Model Assessment on 3-Year Ka-Band Signal of MEASAT-5 at Tropical Region Using 7.3-m Antenna

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Abstract

Satellite signal propagation at Ka-Band is more prone to weather effects than those with lower frequencies. The impact is more severe in the tropics because of its natural climate with heavy rainfall throughout the year. Rain attenuation prediction models developed in this region need to be evaluated to find the optimum model that suits the experimental parameter. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to evaluate ITU-R’s variation prediction models, namely Folasade, Renuka and Xiang Yeo models, including ITU-R P.618-13 model with data collected from MEASAT Ka-Band beacon live monitoring system from 2014 to 2016 in West Peninsular Malaysia using large-size antenna. The measured attenuation for an average of 3 years was 18.2 dB and 25.0 dB at 0.01% of the time at Cyberjaya and Rawang with the rain rate of 76.7 mm/h and 86.0 mm/h at the same percentage of time, respectively. As a result, ITU-R and other models overpredicted the attenuation compared to the measured data. This is because these models were derived from smaller-size antenna, while the measured data were from large-size antenna and higher elevation angle of 68.8°, which contributes to low attenuation on both sites. Therefore, ITU-R model was probed further, using Study Group 3 (SG3) data as the anchor parameters, and from the experiment, it was suggested that the ITU-R model is inappropriate to predict attenuation at elevation angle of higher than 54°. All the resultant graph and analysis were presented to support the facts.

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Acknowledgements

We thank MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd., a leading satellite operator in Malaysia, especially Mr. Mohd Akmal Yahaya and his team for providing us with the data from its earth station gateways in Cyberjaya and Rawang for the years from 2014 to 2016 and their technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical, Electronic and System Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Malaysia

    Fazdliana Samat, Mandeep Singh Jit Singh & Thulasidasan Sountharapandian

  2. Space Science Centre (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Malaysia

    Mandeep Singh Jit Singh

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  1. Fazdliana Samat
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Correspondence to Fazdliana Samat.

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Samat, F., Jit Singh, M.S. & Sountharapandian, T. Rain Attenuation Prediction Model Assessment on 3-Year Ka-Band Signal of MEASAT-5 at Tropical Region Using 7.3-m Antenna. MAPAN 35, 201–212 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12647-019-00355-3

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