Prediction models for rain effects on Earth-space links

Based on the experimental data of Eearth-space paths in the ITU-R and OPEX database and rain rate statistics data measured in China, the new models for rain and its effects on Earth-space links developed in CRIRP are introduced in this paper, including models to predict the long-term statistics of the slant-path rain attenuation and rain-induced XPD, and the conversion models for annual statistics to worst-month statistics of rainfall rates and for 1-minute rainfall rate statistics from 5 and 10-minute integration time data. Comparisons of the new models for rain attenuation and rain-induced XPD with current ITU-R models show that new models have better accuracies. In the meantime, the new models for rain rate statistics can be used in different rain zones with good accuracies. The new models presented in this paper can improve the prediction of propagation effects, which is essential for Earth-space system design.