Abstract
This research investigated the variation of Surface Radio Refractivity and its propagation effects on radio signals over Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria. The study used six years (2015-2020) of satellite data on temperature, pressure, relative humidity and rainfall at the surface (12 km) above ground level. The data retrieved were used to determine the monthly, seasonal, and annual Surface Radio Refractivity value for Lokoja Kogi State. Results show that high Surface Radio Refractivity values were recorded generally during the wet season months compared to the dry season months in all Six years (2015-2020). The average values of Surface Radio Refractivity 307.7407 (N-units) and 323.4674 (N-units) were obtained during the dry and wet season, respectively. The minimum surface radio refractivity values of 280.7245, 284.6583, 308.0021, 285.2304, 304.2521 and 285.9139 (N-units) were recorded for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 respectively. On the other hand, the highest values of 330.8153, 331.8133, 330.3580, 330.9278, 332.4704, and 331.1316 (N-units) were recorded for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. Higher values of Surface Radio Refractivity were recorded generally during the wet season compared to the dry season months in all years (2015-2020) in Lokoja, Kogi State. This implies higher radio signal attenuation due to Ns during the wet season compared to the dry season. The correlation coefficients between Surface Radio Refractivity Ns and temperature are -0.41, -0.51, -0.49, -0.48, -0.46, -0.50, pressure 0.07, -0.15, -0.28, -0.08, -0.11, -0.26, relative humidity 0.89, 0.84, 0.75, 0.84, 0.77, 0.83, and the amount of rainfall 0.76, 0.64, 0.73, 0.58, 0.51, 0.65 respectively in the year 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. The overall findings of the work will be useful to radio engineers for properly planning a reliable power budget for terrestrial radio communication over Lokoja, Kogi State.
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