Rain rates, drop size information, and precipitation type, obtained from one‐way differential propagation phase and attenuation along a microwave link

Abstract

[1] We report measurements of total path differential phase along a 23 km microwave link in northwest England, in addition to measurements of total path attenuation at 17.6 GHz and 12.8 GHz, with the latter at both horizontal and vertical polarizations. Since the differential phase measurements are one-way, they do not contain backscatter differential phase (unlike radar measurements of differential phase). We show that differential phase is sensitive to atmospheric effects, but that it can help identify both snow and sleet (a mixture of melting particles and rain) near the ground. Additionally, we found that it gave unexpectedly accurate path-averaged rain rates. We also report measurements from a second, 15 km, link operating at 22.9 GHz and 14.1 GHz. There is evidence from this link, which had no topographic constraints on its beam width, that differential phase can be affected by interference possibly caused by scattering from the terrain. The measurements give some information about the path-average drop size distribution being experienced by the link.Citation: Holt, A. R., R. J. Cummings, G. J. G. Upton, and W. J. Bradford (2008), Rain rates, drop size information, and precipitation type, obtained from one-way differential propagation phase and attenuation along a microwave link, Radio Sci., 43, RS5009,

Simulation of discrete electromagnetic propagation model for atmospheric effects on mobile communication

“…The influence of the temperature of raindrop water is very weak, and the value of temperature may be neglected in estimating rainfall attenuation. Because of that, the temperature is assumed to be 20 • C in this work [6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…However, there are some other input parameters needed for empirical methodology. One of these input parameters is rainfall rate, which is provided by meteorological agencies, national weather bureaus, and researchers [7][8][9].…”

Microphysical Characteristics of Winter Precipitation in Eastern China from 2014 to 2019

“…The accurate monitoring of solid precipitation is of great significance for aviation safety, transportation and freezing disaster prevention, especially in the middle and high latitudes [1][2][3]. Additionally, the study of the microphysical characteristics of solid precipitation contributes to the development of weather forecasts, remote sensing of precipitation, and hydrology [1,[4][5][6]. The mass-size and velocity-size relationships of solid precipitation particles determine the correctness of Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model parameterization, which has an impact on the prediction of precipitation location, precipitation intensity and start and end times [7][8][9].…”

Microwave links for rainfall estimation in an urban environment: Insights from an experimental setup in Luxembourg-City

“…as suggested in the findings of Holt et al, 2003;Rahimi et al, 2004;Upton et al, 2005;Holt et al, 2008). In this application, the models based on the attenuation differences performed poorer than those obtained using the higher frequency alone.…”

“…Baseline estimation methods typically rely on the identification of ''dry'' versus ''wet'' periods. This can be done using independent data such as rain gauges or radar (Upton et al, 2005;Holt et al, 2008;Cummings et al, 2009;Overeem et al, 2011), or by analyzing the microwave signal of single links (e.g. Schleiss and Berne, 2010) or multiple links (Overeem et al, 2011).…”