Comparison of rain attenuation estimation in high frequency in Indonesia region for LAPAN communication satellite

Abstract

Rain attenuation is one of the factors taken into consideration in the telecommunication system using frequencies above 10 GHz. As a tropical country, Indonesia has an annual average weather of high rainfall, causing the atmospheric conditions to contain a lot of water vapor. At frequencies above 10 GHz, the rain greatly affects the attenuation of the signal transmitted from/to telecommunication satellites. The objective of the research is to know the rain attenuation value estimation that used in link budget communication design to compensate the appropriate margin in LAPAN communication satellite. The study compared the rain attenuation estimation using ITU-R, Global Crane, and DAH modelling. The highest estimated rainfall value is found in Pare-pare using the Global Crane method. The result of the calculation with ITU-R model is the closest method for rain attenuation prediction in LAPAN communication satellite. The study recommends that the method to be used in the design of high frequency communication satellite operating in Indonesia is the ITU-R modelling.