AGARD Conference Proceedings 542: Atmospheric Propagation Effects through Natural and Man-Made Obscurants for Visible to MM-Wave Radiation, Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Panel Symposium, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 17th–20th May 1993
Propagation Modeling of Moist Air and Suspended Water/Ice Particles at Frequencies Below 1000 GHz
Cite This Publication
Hans J. Liebe, George A. Hufford, and Michael G. Cotton, “Propagation Modeling of Moist Air and Suspended Water/Ice Particles at Frequencies Below 1000 GHz,” in AGARD Conference Proceedings 542: Atmospheric Propagation Effects through Natural and Man-Made Obscurants for Visible to MM-Wave Radiation Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Panel Symposium, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 17th–20th May 1993.
Hans J. Liebe, George A. Hufford, and Michael G. Cotton 
Abstract:
Propagation characteristics of the atmosphere are modeled for the frequency range from 1 to 1000 GHz (1 THz) by the modular millimeter-wave propagation model MPM. Refractivity spectra of the main natural absorbers (i.e., oxygen, water-vapor, suspended droplets and ice particles) are computed from known meteorological variables. The primary contributions of dry air come from 44 O2 lines. Results from extensive 60–GHz laboratory measurements of the pressure-broadened O2 spectrum were applied to update the line data base. The water-vapor module considers 34 local H2O lines plus continuum contributions from the H2O spectrum above 1 THz, which are formulated as wing response of a pseudo-line centered at 1.8 THz. Cloud/fog effects are treated with the Rayleigh approximation employing revised formulations for the permittivities of water and ice.
The influence of the Earth's magnetic field on O2 absorption lines becomes noticeable at altitudes between 30 and 120 km. Anisotropic medium properties result, which are computed by the Zeeman propagation model ZPM. Here the elements of a complex refractivity tensor are determined in the vicinity (±10 MHz) of O2 line centers and their effect on the propagation of plane, polarized radiowaves is evaluated.
A spherically stratified (0 – 130 km) atmosphere provides the input for the codes MPM and ZPM in order to analyze transmission and emission properties of radio paths. Height profiles of air and water vapor densities and of the geocoded magnetic field are specified. ZPM predicts polarization- and direction-dependent propagation through the mesosphere. Emission spectra of the 9+ line (61150 ± 3 MHz) for paths with tangential heights ranging from 30 to 125 km are consistent with data measured by the shuttle-based millimeter-wave limb sounder MAS.
Keywords: radio propagation; atmospheric propagation; millimeter-wave propagation model; mesospheric propagation
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