Long-term rain attenuation prediction for Ka-Band link over Venezuela

The determination of the slant-path long-term rain attenuation has been formally characterized on the ITU Recommendation P. 618–8, using an empirical statistical model, suitable for frequencies up to 55 GHz. For the purpose of applying this method on the study of the rain phenomena over the Venezuelan region, different Matlab scripts have been written, aiming to automate the calculation process, iterating the attenuation prediction over the area of interest. The implementation was done based on the VENESAT-I telecommunication system. Results yield with the expected values, and the Matlab implementation has been made available for free use and distribution.