Influence of rain attenuation models on the link availability of Ka-band non-GSO FSS system

System availability is an important factor in the design of satellite communication systems using non-GSO satellites. Rain attenuation can have a serious impact on the availability of radio communication services operating in the frequencies above 10 GHz. For high frequencies. heavy rain impairments occur on the communication links. In order to predict rain attenuation for a local area, a consecutive two-year measurement for rain attenuation under the local rain conditions of a Korean location has been conducted by ETRI. This paper describes the propagation impairments on Ka-band non-GSO FSS systems. especially due to rain attenuation. Based on measurement results by ETRI, rain-attenuation characteristics of Korean territories are analyzed and the amount of rain attenuation in Ka-band and millimeter-wave frequencies under local rain conditions is predicted. In addition, comparisons with some existing prediction models such as ITU-R, SAM, and DAH, are also performed, and link availability for a planned non-GSO FSS system is discussed.