Spatial variability of rain rate and slant path attenuation distributions at 28 GHz in the mid-Atlantic coat region of the United States

Rain rate and corresponding estimated slant-path attenuation distributions derived from two years of measurements are presented for a network of nine rain-gauge sites located in a region whose extent is 70 km north-south and 47 km east-west in the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States in the vicinity of the NASA (US National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA. The network average rain-rate distribution was compared with a previously measured six year average at one of the site locations. Agreement in rain rates was found to be within approximately 1 mm/h over the percentage range of 1-0.01% of the year, signifying the constancy of the rain-rate climatology for the region, and implying an ergodic rainfall process. Slant-path attenuation statistics were estimated at 28.56 GHz by interfacing the measured rain-rate distributions at each of nine site locations with Crane´s Global Model