Rain-Based Attenuation and Dispersion Characteristics of Terahertz Wave in Tropical Climate: Experimentally Verified Reliability Study

Abstract

In the frontier of next generation communication system, the terahertz spectrum can be treated un-parallel as far as the implementation of wireless link with high data-rate is concerned. Atmospheric condition can affect the electromagnetic/radio signal transmission severely. Since, the presence of seasonal hydrometeors in atmosphere may lead to drastic degradation in the free-space propagation of terahertz signal, therefore thorough and comprehensive investigation is essentially required to optimize the future channel-model for terahertz carrier frequency. The atmospheric attenuation causes power loss and in turn receiver signal amplitude gets attenuated. Rain attenuation has pronounced impact on terahertz signal propagation and attenuation of transmitted wave. In tropical weather scenario, the drop-dimension of seasonal rainfall exceeds the maximum dimension of temperate rain. Through an indigenously developed and experimentally verified Non-Linear Terahertz Rain Attenuation Model simulator, the authors have thoroughly investigated the rain-attenuation characteristics of terahertz signal in tropical climate condition for different hydrometeor properties including rain-rates and drop-size distribution. The effect of tropical thunderstorm has been uniquely incorporated by the authors in the present study along with atmospheric humidity and temperature based fluctuations. The reliability issues that are related with THz communication in tropical rain-fall have also been comprehensively analysed. Besides, a best-fit analysis has also been covered under different drop-size distribution statistics. It has been found that, in Indian Scenario (as a part of tropical climate), the peak attenuation level of THz spectrum under tropical rain-fall can be found in the range of (7THz-9THz). With increase of rain-rate from 2mm/hr to 200mm/hr, the peak attenuation level rises from ~100dB/km to ~1000dB/km. The basic model has been validated through experimental data where close proximity(with ± 10% variation from the mean data) has been observed. The present study on terahertz signal attenuation profile in tropical rainy weather will help the communication engineers to open the new door for the ultra-high speed world of 6G terahertz communication.