A Hata based model utilizing terrain roughness correction formula

This paper proposes a new terrain based formula to correct propagation loss model originally proposed by Hata for the 900 MHz band. This formula consists of an estimator of the standard deviation (σ) along the measuring path in west of Amman city, Jordan. The estimator is calculated by a quadratic regression formula to reflect terrain roughness of the path taken. This estimator is used as a correction factor added to the urban formula proposed by Hata, for both urban and open areas categories. It is reported that the new estimator has less RMSE by an amount of 2.60 dB and 2.78 dB compared to Hata model for urban and open areas, respectively. Such an outcome illustrates the need for a terrain based correction formula in any accurate propagation model.