A prediction model of rain attenuation along Earth-space path

Rain attenuation is the dominant propagation impairment for satellite communication systems operating at frequencies above about 10 GHz. Based on ITU-R model and experimental cumulative distribution functions of in the database of ITU-R study group 3, a modified method to predict the long-term statistics of the slant-path rain attenuation is proposed where the new rain height model, path adjustment factor and formula for estimating attenuation of other percentages of an average year are developed. Compared with ITU-R model, this model improves the accuracy of rain attenuation prediction.