Assessment of Tropospheric Radio Refractivity and its Variation with Climatic Variables in the Guinea Savannah Region of Nigeria

Abstract

In studies involving terrestrial atmospheric electromagnetic propagation, such as point-to-point microwave communication, terrestrial radio, television radio, television broadcast, and mobile communication systems, radio refractivity—the bending of a radio signal as it propagates through media—is crucial. In this study, the seasonal tropospheric radio refractivity was estimated and its variations with other meteorological parameters and refractive index were investigated using the measured monthly climatic data of atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, and temperature obtained from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) for Makurdi and Ibadan during the period of forty-two (42) years (1981 to 2022). The refractivity gradiant, effective earth radius, and percentage contribution of the dry and wet term radio refractivity were examined. The findings indicated that for the two locations, high values of radio refractivity were observed during the rainy season and low values during the dry season. The maximum and minimum average values of radio refractivity observed for Makurdi and Ibadan during the rainy and dry seasons are, respectively, 380.0641 N-units in the month of May, 331.9776 N-units in January, and 379.9479 N-units in the month of May, 352.2143 N-units in January. The dry term (Ndry) contributes 70.8764 % and 69.4504 % to the total value of radio refractivity, while the wet term (Nwet) contributes to the major variation with 29.1236 % and 30.5496 % for Makurdi and Ibadan, respectively. The study areas under investigation yielded average refractivity gradients of -43.8583 and -43.1480 N-units/km. Additionally, the average effective earth radius (k – factor) for Makurdi and Ibadan was found to be 1.3876 and 1.3790, respectively. These values align with the conditions of super refraction propagation.