Speaker
Description
Many studies have discussed the sensitivity of CML rainfall measurement to the frequency of the link. High frequency links (above 35 GHz) suffer higher levels of attenuation by rain than lower frequency links. This could be an advantage for low rain rate detection, but can also be a limitation as high rain rates may cause extinction of the liaison. Orange Cameroon is currently investigating the use of high frequency links (generally coupled with low frequency) as a way to increase the bandwidth and the general performance of their network for short distance, urban coverage. As part of a collaboration the data of a dual frequency 80-18 GHz was provided to our research group in order to investigate the feasibility of such a link in a tropical context with intense rainfall. The link is located in Douala where we operate several rain gauges used for comparisons.
In this presentation we will discuss the results of comparisons between the dual frequency link and the nearby rain gauges (5 minutes time step) in terms of attenuation/extinction statistics and also in terms of rainfall detection and estimation. We will show that the use of the 2 wavelengths in synergy is interesting for extending the range of rainfall rates that can be detected and accurately measured by CMLs, in a tropical context.
Keywords: Rainfall, CML, Cameroon, Africa