Tropospheric Propagation Modeling for Opportunistic Rain Sensing using Current and Future Broadcast and Broadband Satellites

Opportunistic rain sensing using satellite broadband and broadcast channels has recently proven to be a very accurate, cost-effective, and broad-coverage technique. Since it relies on accurate propagation channel modeling, it needs to keep the pace with the evolution of satellite-based communication systems, in particular in terms of the ever-increasing range of radio frequencies foreseen for the integration with (beyond-)5G networks. This paper performs a performance comparison between: i) a consolidated, though overly simplified, tropospheric channel model which was devised by the ITU for the design of Ku-band satellite broadcasting links, and ii) a more elaborate one, featuring two layers and best suited to fit higher frequency links. Numerical results using data collected by a satellite terminal show that the second model provides better results, especially in the case of low rain rates.