Effect of temperature and multiple scattering on rain attenuation of electromagnetic waves by a simple spherical model

Abstract—Specific rain attenuation is discussed from the viewpoint of numerical solution for scattering and absorption of electromagnetic waves related to dielectric spheres. Special attention is paid to the quantitative evaluations considering the change of temperature and the existence of multiple scattering effect. The analysis is based on the set of Stratton’s vector spherical wave functions and its addition theorem, which lead to the simultaneous linear equations for the expansion coefficients with adaptively selected truncation numbers. Computed extinction cross sections lead directly to the specific rain attenuation, where the Weibull raindrop distribution model is used. It is discussed how the dependence of the permittivity of water on temperature and frequency affects the attenuation property. Furthermore, the effect of multiple scattering is evaluated in terms of the root mean square of attenuation deviation from the simple superposition of single scattering (Mie’s) coefficients. Contrary to general belief, this deviation is the highest at around the boundary between microwave and millimeter wave bands. 1