Effect of the melting layer on hydrometeor scatter interference

Scattering by hydrometeors has recently received considerable attention, since it can be a decisive factor in interference coordination distance calculation. While rain scatter was adequately considered, the effect of the melting-snow layer on interference modeling and estimation has been somewhat ignored, particularly in the 4-6 GHz band. In this paper, the dependence of interference levels on the modeling of precipitation is examined. The present ITU-R rain-cell model assumes that the vertical structure of precipitation consists of a snow region directly above a rain medium; i.e., the rain medium extends up to the 0 degrees C isotherm. In the present work, the model is modified to include the effect of scattering and attenuation in the melting layer (ML).