Rainfall Microstructures for Microwave and Millimeter Wave Link Budget at Tropical and Subtropical Sites

Tropical and subtropical sites are known as areas of intense rainfall, where both satellite and terrestrial links suffer from severe levels of signal degradation. In this study, Butare (2 degrees 36'S, 29 degrees 44'E) and Durban (29 degrees 52'S, 30 degrees 58'E), with tropical and subtropical characteristics respectively, are compared at different measurement periods. Rainfall microstructural parameters such as rainfall rate, rainfall Drop Size Distribution (DSD) and radar reflectivity, are examined. It is found that at 99.99% rain availability (or R-0.01), these parameters are slightly higher at Butare than Durban. However, specific attenuation computations tend to be higher at Durban compared to Butare, between 40 GHz and 1 THz.