Microwave Attenuation in Wireless Link Caused by Sand and Dust Storms

Abstract

In this letter, the attenuation by spheroidal sand particles under different relative humidity ( <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RH</i> ) is investigated with consideration of contributions of water vapor and excess charges carried by particles, which is much closer to real conditions. The microwave (MW) attenuation will be enhanced when the sand particles are considered as the spheroids. The contributions of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RH</i> and excess charges to the MW attenuation are much greater by the spheroidal sand particles than that by the equal-volume spherical ones. The increasing effects of excess charges and <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">RH</i> on the MW attenuation are mutually reinforced. The contribution of water vapor to the MW attenuation by sand–dust storms is significant when the visibility is high, which makes up the gap between the experimental results and calculated results. An improved attenuation model by sand and dust storms is given with an incident wave frequency of 4–45 GHz.