March 1971 | Technical Memorandum OT ITSTM 37
An experimental study of the temporal statistics of radio signals scattered by rain
Cite This Publication
Robert W. Hubbard, Joseph A. Hull, G. D. Thayer, and Philip L. Rice, “An experimental study of the temporal statistics of radio signals scattered by rain,” Technical Memorandum OT ITSTM 37, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Telecommunications, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, March 1971.
Robert W. Hubbard, Joseph A. Hull, G. D. Thayer, and Philip L. Rice
Abstract: A fixed-beam, bistatic CW experiment designed to measure the temporal statistics of the volume reflectivity produced by hydrometeors at several selected altitudes, scattering angles and at two frequencies (3. 6 and 7. 8 GHz) is described. Surface rain gauge data, local meteorological data, surveillance S-band radar and great-circle path propagation measurements are also made to describe the general weather and propagation conditions and to distinguish precipitation scatter signals from those caused by ducting and other non-hydrometeor scatter mechanisms. The resultsto-date cover the time interval September 15, 1970, to January 31, 1971. The cumulative distribution of rainy minutes for which the path loss signal exceeds a given value above system sensitivity is presented for the several path geometries. These cumulative distributions of amplitudetime durations of hydrometeor scatter signals are compared with measured cumulative distribution of surface rain rate measurements obtained for the same time period. The surface rain rate statistics are compared with long-term excessive precipitation data available for the southeastern United States.
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