10 Years of radio-climatological modelling in Southern Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a rapidly increasing customer demand for broadband connectivity and high-quality data content. This problem can only be eased through migration to higher microwave and millimetric bands. However, serious radio climatological concerns arise at these higher bands, notably attenuation and scattering due to rain. This paper therefore reports initially on clear weather measurements in Southern Africa. However, the focus shifts to modeling attenuation due to rainfall in South Africa, Botswana, Rwanda in Central Africa, and Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa. Queuing Theory approach to rain fall modelling is presented in detail. Finally, the Markovian approach is presented for Ethiopia.