Preliminary Investigation of the Potentialities of a Mesoscale Meteorological Model to Reproduce Experimental Statistics of Rain Attenuation on Earth-Space Links

Current spatial resolutions achieved by mesoscale weather forecast models allow them to be used generate the state of lowest layers atmosphere over areas as small a few square kilometers which corresponds typical size tropospheric area crossed Earth-space links. Furthermore, they evolution troposphere predicted with time stamp five minutes instead every hour large-scale makes attractive for radio propagation predictions satellite communication applications. This paper aims at studying capability Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model coupled an electromagnetic physical reproduce rain attenuation statistics paths Ka-band. To this purpose, one year measurements collected 20 GHz in different places midlatitudes Toulouse Salon de Provence (France), Spino d’Adda (Italy), Aveiro (Portugal), Madrid (Spain), high latitudes Svalbard (Norway) low Kourou are make comparisons between simulations measurements. Comparisons simulated experimental annual considered provide encouraging results, similar accuracy Recommendation ITU-R P.618–13 midlatitude European locations better latitude equatorial location French Guiana.