International Journal of Latest Research in Engineering and Technology (IJLRET)

ISSN: 2454-5031
www.ijlret.com Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2016 PP 62-67

Effects of Rain Drops Rate on Digital Broadcasting Satellite

(DBS) System in Kaduna
Tonga Agadi Danladi,1 Yahaya Abubakar Hamisu,2 Jazuli Sunusi
Kazaure1 and Jaafar Ibrahim Kazaure1
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Hussaini Adamu Federal Polytechnic Kazaure, Jigawa
State
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State

Abstract: Recent development in microwave communications technology, especially in telecommunications

and broadcasting has resulted in congestion in the frequencies lower than 10GHz. This has made it necessary for
microwave designers and planners to look for high frequencies. But frequencies greater than 10GHz, rain
becomes one of the main factors of signal attenuation. At frequencies from 10GHz upwards, rain drop sizes lead
to outage of signal that compromises the availability and quality of service, thus making it a critical factor that
affect the quality of service. The research is aimed at conducting analysis of raw data collected from Nigerian
Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and data retrieved from archive Galaxy Backbone plc, from April-October,
2012 and April-October, 2013 to examine the effect of rain drops rate on digital broadcasting satellite (DBS)
system at KU-band frequency. Result obtained from the two institutional organizations showed that the rain rate
in the month of August is the highest with a value of 35.72mm/hr for the year 2012 and lowest being the month
of April with a value of 7.95mm/hr. This show that the higher the rain intensity the shorter the period of rain.
The impact of the rain rate in the month of August on the DBS signal will be significant compared to that it
would be for the month of April. The same can be said of the month of June, July and September of the year
2013. Also it can be observed that the average rain rate in the year 2013 is much more than observed for the year
2012.
Key-words: DBS system, KU-band frequency, microwave frequency, rain rate and signal attenuation

1. Introduction
Satellite signal in to digital broadcast satellite (DBS) system in Ku-band is not immune to propagation impacts.
Services provided by (DBS) system in Ku-band is greatly affected during raining season, more especially the
period when heaving rainfall is being experienced. The rain drops rate effect on the direct broadcast satellite
system resulted into signal attenuation, increases system noise temperature and changes the polarization. These
mechanisms cause degradation on the received signal quality and become increasingly significant as the carrier
frequency increases. This may lead to the blurred video stream or complete signal loss. Also space
environmental effects on satellite communications can be separated into three (3) namely: [1]
i) Effects on the space segment
ii) Effects on the ground segment
iii) Effects on the signals propagating through the earth lower and upper atmosphere.
These effects depend significantly on frequency of operation in the electromagnetic spectrum, antenna angle,
polarization, earth station, noise temperature and local meteorology. There are other propagation mechanisms
affecting earth- space communications performance that are also of concern to the system designer and planner.
These include gaseous attenuation, cloud and fog attenuation; rain and ice polarization, amplitude phase, and
angle-of-arrival, scintillation and sky noise. The troposphere and hydrometers (rain snow, cloud droplets etc [2]
can impair satellite communication links operating in Ku-band in three(3) ways namely: (i) amplitude reduction,
(ii) increase in interference and (iii) increase in thermal noise.

2. How Rain Drops Rate affect DBS Link

a)

Rain drops rate affects the transmission of an electromagnetic signal in these ways:
It attenuate the signal (b) it increases the system noise temperature and (c) it changes the polarization of the
received signal

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Effects of Rain Drops Rate on Digital Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) System in Kaduna
These three (3) mechanisms cause degradation in the received signal quality and become increasingly
worrisome as the carrier frequency increases. The rain attenuation is caused by the scattering and absorption of
electromagnetic waves (Ku-band signal) by rain drops. The scattering of rain drops diffuses the signal while
absorption involves in the resonance of the signals with individual molecules of rain. The absorption also
increases the molecular energy corresponding to a slight increase in temperature and results in an equivalent loss
of signal energy. [3]

3. Method/Material
This section explains how data used in this research were collected. The measurement facilities were provided
by the kind permission of Galaxy Back Bone Plc in Abuja. A spectrum analyzer (Rohde and Schwarz) model,
frequency range of 9 KHz -3GHz and maximum attenuation of +30dBm was used for the measurements. The
measurements covered the months of April- October 2012 and April- October 2013. These months were chosen
because rainfall is witnessed in this period of the year in Nigeria; also raw data were collected from Nigerian
Meteorological agency
3.2 Raw data obtained from Meteorological Agency (NIMET).
Meteorological data on rain rainfall intensity and the period of rain (April-October 2012 and April-October 2013
were collected from the Kaduna Zonal office of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET). The data cover
the period of study, January 2012 to October 2013. The monthly mean rain rates for Kaduna for April- October
2012 and April- October 2013 were calculated from the raw data by dividing monthly average rainfall by the
average monthly time taken for the rain to fall. The data collected from NIMET is presented in Tables 3.1 and
3.2 below
Table 3.1: Mean Rainfall Intensities and Rain Rates of Kaduna
(April-October, 2012)
Month
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

Month
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

Rainfall
(mm)
6.60
7.30
13.17
11.66
21.04
7.43
16.80

intensity

Period of rain (hr)

Rain rate (mm/hr)

0.83
0.37
0.51
0.61
0.59
0.37
0.65

7.95
19.81
25.76
18.93
35.72
19.96
25.67

Table 3.1 Mean Rainfall Intensities and rain rates of Kaduna

(April-October, 2013)
Rainfall
intensity Period of rain (hr)
Rain rate (mm/hr)
(mm)
7.45
0.37
20.12
5.68
0.33
17.07
20.28
0.31
64.19
11.16
0.35
32.24
19.24
0.32
59.48
21.09
0.33
63.52
3.67
0.24
15.30

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Effects of Rain Drops Rate on Digital Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) System in Kaduna

Figure 3.1 Mean rain rate of Kaduna (April- October, 2012)

Figure 3.2 Mean rain rate of Kaduna (April- October, 2013)

3.3 Rain Attenuation Data Retrieved from the Archive of Galaxy Backbone Plc
Tables 3.3 and 3.4 presents the monthly mean rain attenuation recorded from April-October 2012 and AprilOctober 2013 were retrieved from the archive of Galaxy backbone plc. Rain attenuation between September 27 th
and October 2013 was measured and recorded in my presence
Table 3.3 Measured Mean rain attenuation of Kaduna
(April-October 2012) Source: Galaxy Backbone Plc
Month
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

Rain attenuation in dB
1.30
3.50
5.20
3.50
7.50
3.60
6.00

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Effects of Rain Drops Rate on Digital Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) System in Kaduna
Table 3.4 Measured Mean rain attenuation of Kaduna
(April-October 2013) Source: Galaxy Backbone Plc
Month
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

Rain attenuation in dB
3.80
3.00
15.00
7.00
15.60
16.70
2.85

Figure 3.3 Measured mean rain attenuation of Kaduna (April- October, 2012)
Source: Galaxy backbone plc.

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Effects of Rain Drops Rate on Digital Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) System in Kaduna

Figure 3.4: measured mean rain attenuation of Kaduna (April- October 2013
Source: Galaxy backbone plc
3.4 Calculation of Mean Rain Rate
A statistical method was used to analyzed the raw data to determined the monthly mean rain rates for Kaduna,
which the period of time the data were collected i.e April- October, 2012 and April- October 2013 which were
collected by dividing monthly average rainfall by the average monthly time taken for the rain to fall which is
given by equation (1) [4].
Average = mrr/mtt.1
Where is the summation sign
Mrr is the monthly average rainfall for the period of study
Mtt is the monthly time taken for rain to fall.

4.1

Result Discussion

Result obtained from NIMEI, it can be observed in fig. 3.1 that the rain rate in the month of August is the
highest for the year 2012 and lowest being the month of April. This shows that the higher the rain intensity the
shorter the period of rain. The impact of the rain rate in the month of August on the (DBS) signal will be
significant compared to that it would for the month of April. The same can be said of the month of June, July
and August of the year 2013.compared to the lower rain rate calculated for the month of April and May of the
same year.
Also, it can be observed that the average rain rate in the year 2013is much more than observe for the year 2012.
Result retrieves from archive Galaxy-backbone Plc, according to fig. 3.2, the month of August 2012 and
September 2013 witnessed more rain intensity and this contributed to the calculated corresponding increase in
rain rate and rain attenuation produced in the month. Whereas the month of April and May 2013 witnessed
lesser rain intensity with corresponding lower rain attenuation. Scattering and absorption of electromagnetic
wave in rain drops in the month with high rate like the month of August 2012 and September 2013 diffuse the
Ku-band signal more than they did for the month of April 2012 and May 2013, hence more rain attenuation
produced in the month with higher rain rates. The absorption increase the molecular energy of rain drops as the
rain rate increase, corresponding to a slight increase in temperature and result in an equivalent loss of signal
energy. Beside scattering and absorption, increase in rain depolarization in the month of August 2012 and
September 2013 due to heavy rain rates produce more rain attenuation compared to 2012 and May 2013, and
thermal noise, which is the combination of the sky noise and earth station receive noise temperature during the
month with higher rain rates contribute to the corresponding high rain attenuation produced in the months.
These effects generally minimize system transmission bit rate, maximize system utilization and maximize
system complexity as rain rate increases. This makes the month of August 2012 and September 2013 the worst
months for the respective years of measurements.

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Effects of Rain Drops Rate on Digital Broadcasting Satellite (DBS) System in Kaduna
4.2
Conclusion
In this research work, rain rate and rain attenuation were measured for period of (April-October, 2012) and
(April- October, 2013) for 99.9% of signal availability time. It was observed that an increase in signal
availability time produces a corresponding decrease in measured rain attenuation.
Due to propagation effects of rain drops associated with Ku-band, it is recommended that migration into Kaband (27GHz-40GHz) that provides high data rate, interactive multimedia services to users with small antennas
closer orbital spacing, and negligible terrestrial interface compared to Ku-band (12GHz-18GHz) and most
importantly the bandwidth in excess of 2500MHz.[5] because of growing congestion in Ku-band.

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