The use of satellite imagery for forecasting rain attenuation

A conceptual study of nowcasting (very short range forecasting) rain attenuation on earth-space links is currently being conducted at Coventry University. The proposed technique uses satellite imagery (IR and microwave) for evaluating in near real-time the relative probability of a fade occurring on one slant path with respect to other such paths in a fade countermeasure scenario. The nowcasting procedure, which is summarised, is fully automated and could be self-contained in the space segment. It is intended for operation in a parallel-processing environment and makes use of artificial intelligence techniques. The paper describes the various subroutines and algorithms which collectively form the procedure