Weibull raindrop-size distribution and its application to rain attenuation

Abstract

In the design of radio systems such as terrestrial and satellite communication links at frequencies above 10 GHz, rain attenuation is an important problem. A Weibull raindrop-size distribution is proposed by fitting the measurements of rainfall observed using a distrometer in Tokyo. A propagation experiment at 103 GHz is introduced. Rain attenuation coefficients are calculated by considering the Mie scattering using this Weibull distribution for raindrop size and are compared with some experimental data. The results of frequency characteristics from this Weibull raindrop-size distribution agrees well with some experimental data for the range 8–312.5 GHz.