On the use of long sampling-time rainfall observations for predicting high-probability attenuation on Earth-space links

Using a large database of time-series rainfall records, a simple model has been developed for direct conversion of hourly rainfall rates into equally-probable one-minute data for use in attenuation prediction algorithms. The conversion is accurate for mean annual probabilities exceeding 1.0×10^-3 with the ratios of equiprobable 1-min to 60-min rainfall rates being reasonably close to unity. The precision may diminish for lower probabilities (~1.0×10^-4 ) as location-to-location variability increases. Four climatic regions serve to cover the North American continent (south of 55° or 60°N) with different regression curves applicable to each region. The characteristics and boundaries of two of these regions are related to the strong influences of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The remaining boundary divides the continent along a north-south axis