A Review on Rain Attenuation of Radio Waves

Abstract — Water is naturally found in atmosphere in three major physical states as: liquid (rain, fog & clouds), solid (snow-flakes, ice-crystals) & gaseous (water vapors). In any of the forms the occurrence of water causes hindrances in the path of radio waves in form of absorption & scattering leading to some loss in signal quality & quantity both which is quantified in terms of attenuation. Here we present a brief outlook of how & why rain attenuation takes place & how it is measured & a review of all the methods developed so far for attenuation measurement.