Prediction of electromagnetic wave attenuation in dust storms using Mie scattering

Abstract: Electromagnetic wave propagation in arid and semiarid regions is influenced by sand and dust storms. This phenomenon has received considerable interest in recent time with emphasis on signal attenuation. To this end, electromagnetic waves equation is proposed in this paper to compute and predict the attenuation of electromagnetic waves in dust storm, in which the propagating frequency, the dielectric constant of dust particles and the visibility during dust storm are accounted for. This was done based on modification of Mie theory. The proposed model enables convenient computation of electromagnetic waves attenuation using visibility, frequency and dust particles’ characteristics such as permittivity and particle radius. Accuracy of this model, especially when the attenuation is a function of visibility, is verified and validated by using existing models. It can be found that attenuation increases when the visibility during dust storms gets severe