Multiyear slant-path rain fade statistics at 28.56 GHz for Wallops Island, VA

Multiyear rain fade statistics at 28.56 GHz have been compiled for the region of Wallops Island, VA, covering the time periods April 1, 1977-March 31, 1978, and September 1, 1978-August 31, 1979. The 28.56-GHz attenuations were derived by monitoring the beacon signals from the Comstar geosynchronous satellite,
D_{2}
, during the first year, and satellite,
D_{3}
, during the second year. Comparisons are made of yearly, monthly, and time of day fade statistics for the first, second, and combined years. Although considerable year to year variations in exceedance times exist for the monthly and time of day fade statistics, the overall fade distributions for the individual years showed relatively small differences. For example, comparing the second year fades relative to those of the first year at equal percentages of time, less than 20 percent rms deviation was found. The year to year variations of rain rate distributions are also examined and show consistently small differences. The resultant fade distribution at 28.56 GHz for Wallops Island, VA, are compared with that arrived at using a prediction method which is a recent refinement of the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) global model, and an rms decibel deviation of less than 14 percent was noted.