Estimation of Rain Attenuation for Terrestrial Microwave Link in Bhutan

Abstract

Rain attenuation is a major microwave transmission inadequacy. The design of a terrestrial microwave connection is therefore a serious task for engineers. As a result, attenuation caused by rain cannot be ignored for any microwave link. This paper contains a twenty two-year annual rainfall estimate of twenty stations in Bhutan. In ten major cities in Bhutan, namely Thimphu, Chhukha, Gasa, Pemagatshel, Lung chen, Sarpang, Jakar, Zhemgang, Sawang and Trashigang rain attenuation is expected using the ITU-R rain attenuation model in land microwave communication. Rain attenuation is found mostly in the city Sarpang and the least in the town of Thimphu. It is also noted that the vertical signal of polarization experiences less rain attenuation than horizontal polarization. Contour Map is designed to present the rain attenuation in visual form to help an engineer to have a quick overlook before designing a satellite link