Path Loss Analysis Considering Atmospheric Refractivity and Precipitation for Air-to-Ground Radar

This letter reports a correlation analysis of path loss considering atmospheric refractivity and precipitation in an air-to-ground radar application. For the path loss estimation, the refractivity and rainfall attenuation models are derived using actual atmospheric data. The path loss along the range and altitude is obtained using parabolic equation software tool (PETOOL). The digital terrain elevation data (DTED) of the Suwon-Osan area, the radar antenna beam pattern, and environmental models are employed in the PETOOL. Then, we expand the path loss calculation in an azimuthal scan to observe the illuminated field intensity on the ground for a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) application. The results confirm that the illuminated field intensity for SAR applications is closely related to refractivity and precipitation.