Quantifying Hardware Related Attenuation from the Analysis of Nearby Microwave Links

Abstract

Commercial microwave links (CMLs), widely used as a backhaul of cellular networks, can be used for rainfall retrieval. Major uncertainties in CML rainfall estimation arise from hardware related attenuation, which is difficult to quantify. The contribution suggests using close-by CMLs to quantify this attenuation. The approach is tested on two years of data from three CMLs operating at 38 GHz. The results show that hardware related attenuation can reach more than 10 dB and that these extreme values are associated with heavy rainfalls. However, high attenuation values can occur also during light rainfalls and dew events. We suggest, that hardware related attenuation follows different functional relation during light and during heavy rainfalls. During light rainfalls (and dew events), attenuation gradually increases, however, during heavy rainfalls it is rather dependent on rainfall intensity.