Diversity gain and rain height statistics for slant paths from radar measurements

A dual polarized S-band radar was used in a year long experiment to study the prediction of slant path attenuation from radar data. As a part of this experiment, a large number of RHIs (vertical radar scans) were made during rain events. The data from these events has been analyzed to determine the statistics of rain height and melting layer thickness. Diversity gain statistics can be obtained from predictions of attenuation on synthesized slant paths in the RHI planes. Diversity gain for three paths is examined: one artificial path and two paths for which beacon attenuation measurements are available. Excellent agreement is obtained for diversity gain from the radar predictions and the beacon measurements