Ku-Band scintillation over Akure, Nigeria

Abstract

Relationship between scintillation intensity (σ χ ) and peak-to-peak amplitude (χ pp) is important for mitigating scintillation effects on any communication link. This study employs linear, logarithmic and polynomial functions for fitting σ χ and χ pp in order to determine the best model for describing the variation of the former with the latter. It also examines the frequency of occurrence of scintillation intensity and the suitable probability density function for characterizing its distribution. Data used spanned 24 months, and were obtained from measurement of EUTELSAT W4/W7 satellite beacons on 12.245 GHz frequency, 1 s integration time and 53° elevation angle, at the Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Akure (07°17′N, 005°18′E, 358 m) Nigeria. Results show that logarithmic function performed best in modelling χ pp from σ χ as indicated by high coefficient of determination and minimal root mean sqaure error values. Strong scintillation events (σ χ > 0.5) were also found to occur less frequently as sample interval increased. Lastly, lognornal, gamma and generalised extreme value (GEV) models were found suitable for describing σ χ distribution.

Evaluation of Concurrent Variation in Rain Specific Attenuation and Tropospheric Amplitude Scintillation Over Akure, Southwest Nigeria

“…All variations in signal due to scintillation usually last for a period of few seconds irrespective of the underlying cause. This forms the basis for differentiating scintillation from slow-fading rain attenuation events which are known to last for periods of several minutes (Ashidi 2020). Furthermore, unlike rain fading, scintillation is not a lossy process.…”

“…However, only few works on tropospheric amplitude scintillation have been reported from Nigeria due to dearth of data, these include but not limited to-characterization of Ku-band amplitude scintillation on Earth-space path over Published in partnership with CECCR at King Abdulaziz University Akure, SW Nigeria (Ashidi 2020;Ashidi et al 2017Ashidi et al , 2020Ashidi et al , 2021, experimental analysis and comparison of tropospheric scintillation prediction models in tropical Nigeria (Ojo et al 2018), analysis and comparison of tropospheric scintillation prediction models at Covenant University (Akinwumi et al 2018), and prediction of tropospheric scintillation over some selected locations in Nigeria (Adebo and Akindugbagbe 2019). Locally, no study has been reported on the concurrent evaluation of rain attenuation with amplitude scintillation.…”