Seasonal and diurnal trends of surface refractivity in a tropical environment using ground-based automatic weather stations

Abstract

The seasonal and diurnal trends of surface refractivity were derived using International Telecommunication Union Radio assembly model (ITU-R P.453-13) in two locations of entirely different vegetation characteristics in Nigeria. Atmospheric refractivity is a function of temperature, pressure as well as humidity. These meteorological variables were applied to the model to compute the refractivity parameter. Atmospheric refraction or refractivity is a key component in radio wave propagation. Real-time measurement data from a network of ground-based automatic weather station (AWS) installed at 3 m height were used and the monthly trends of surface refractivity at both stations (Lagos and Anyigba) were derived; the trends showed a month-to-month variability signifying the dynamic nature of the Earth’s atmosphere. The monthly trends in both stations show high refractivity values in the rainy months and low refractivity values in the dry months. A drop in refractivity value was observed in Lagos in the month of August, due to the cessation in rainfall as a result of a phenomenon referred to as August break. The diurnal variations were also determined and results obtained showed that the lowest refractivity value in the dry season observed in Lagos is higher than the highest refractivity value in rainy season observed in Anyigba. This is attributed to the fact that Lagos is located along the coast of the South Atlantic Ocean, therefore, the monsoon has a direct influence on its atmosphere, while Anyigba is an inland station with a mixture of savannah vegetation. Overall, the diurnal variations show high values in the morning and evening hours and low values in the afternoon hours in both seasons in Anyigba, while in Lagos we observed a surprising result, such as a rise in refractivity value at pre-noon and a post-noon drop. This unacquainted observation is probably due to excessive precipitation in the area caused by the influence of massive emissions from the South Atlantic Ocean, these emissions are mainly a result of the trapped heat due to warming of surface water.