Time diversity in satellite links affected by rain: prediction of the gain at different localities

Abstract

We present a statistical assessment of the performance (in terms of gain, G (dB)) of time diversity as a rain attenuation countermeasure in non real-time satellite communications in the frequency range 10 to 100 GHz, by simulating rain attenuation time series with the Synthetic Storm Technique (SST) at Fucino (Central Italy) in a 33° slant path, and then we compare these results with those previously derived for Spino d'Adda (Northern Italy) in a 37.7° slant path. The comparison shows that the relative gain G/A is little sensitive to attenuation A (dB) in both sites and sensitive to frequency, for a given value A. (5 pages)