Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Through Rain

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 273 pages
• Published by: Wiley-Interscience; Har/Dis edition February 8, 1996
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0471613762
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0471613763
• Book Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Review
"Robert Crane has written a highly technical and useful manual that those in communications engineering will find useful." (E-Streams, Vol. 7, No. 5)

"Robert Crane has written a highly technical and useful manual that those in communications engineering will find useful." (E-Streams, Vol. 7, No. 5)

Product Description
Climatic factors such as rain, snow, and other forms of precipitation can have a significant impact on the transmission of radio, light, or heat waves in the atmosphere. Communication systems may experience a loss of signal caused by the effects of rain on a radio link. Radar systems may experience interference that distorts the amplitude of the target signal. Any remote sensing system that relies on the propagation of electromagnetic waves must therefore be designed to take these factors into account.

Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Through Rain was written to help system designers in such fields as meteorology, telecommunications, radar, and aircraft guidance systems face the challenge of predicting and compensating for these potentially serious weather-related effects on communication or remote sensing systems around the world and above the surface of the earth.

Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Through Rain describes and analyzes the interaction between electromagnetic waves and various forms of precipitation. Interdisciplinary in approach, this book provides a solid in-depth treatment of the underlying physics as well as applications in communications, the aerospace industry, and meteorology.

Through a combination of observations and models, Dr. Crane provides both students and practitioners of communication system design with a reliable statistical base for determining the frequency and severity of precipitation- generated attenuation episodes that can significantly impact on vital electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere.

An invaluable book for professionals and advanced students in electrical, aerospace, and communications engineering, remote sensing, physics, and meteorology, Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Through Rain represents a significant addition to the literature and an important contribution to our understanding and management of this problem.

Precipitation patterns can have a major impact on telecommunication and radar systems around the world. The frequency and duration of rain or snow in any given area at any given time can determine the extent to which vital electromagnetic waves may be compromised--causing interference or even failure in a system. The result of more than thirty years of research, Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Through Rain provides a clear analysis of attenuation by rain and other forms of precipitation on a wide range of vital communication systems.

Using observations and models, the author offers predictable statistics of rain events which can help to achieve more effective system designs. Its practical interdisciplinary approach makes Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Through Rain an indispensable resource for engineering professionals and advanced students in electrical, aerospace, and communications engineering.

Major topics covered include:
* Effects of Rain
* Rain Structure and Rain-Rate Statistics
* Rain-Rate Climate Models
* Modeling Attenuation by Rain
* Attenuation Mitigation via Diversity
* Worst-Month Statistics
* Estimating Risk

Reader Reviews
To start with, the title is really something of a misnomer. A better title would be "Empirically Estimating Long Term Attenuation Statistics of Terrestrial Radio Links". His results do not extend beyond radio frequencies and they are difficult to apply to anything other than terrestrial links. And he does not really provide much insight into EM wave propagation so much as empirical parameters which are difficult to validate. Better for a tutorial on the subject of interaction of radio waves and the atmosphere is: Doppler Radar and Weather Observations by Richard J. Doviak, Dusan S. Zrnic or any of a number of books on radar meteorology. Apologies to the communications community but the radar guys have the most thorough treatment of the field, because it is the object of their study, rather than merely an impairment. Crane's claim to fame is that you can use his book (and included Excel file) to make predictions about link availability for radio and radar installations. One shortcoming is trying to extend his result to other than surface to surface and surface to satellite links. It's possible, but I don't believe he's much help. There is a similar ITU model and either is about as easy to use. I do not believe that one is decisively better than the other. Your choice of model may depend more on you institutions prejudices and traditions or your customers' "comfort level" with either model. One problem with this book, IMHO is that its "derivations" are overly empirical and difficult to extend. (I do not think I am being uncharitable in expressing the opinion that they are mathematically unsound in places and the mathematically unsound derivations often depend on physical assumptions which he never really justifies.) I've seen people produce extremely slipshod analyses based on misapplication "Crane's model." And these results, inherited at third hand and barely understood, become gospel. Admittedly this is not so much the fault of Crane but of his would-be disciples. Another problem is that his models are not easy to apply, as presented, one needs to depend on his spreadsheets. (This is Crane's fault.) It is difficult to extend his spreadsheet to mobile platforms, such as aircraft and ships. It would be nice to have the climate zone boundaries in tabular form so that one could model such platforms as they move around the earth. The ITU models are more or less the same, the parameters and zone boundaries are different. Use whichever you're comfortable with. If you need to make ballpark estimates of link availability Crane's spreadsheet should be fine. If you want to learn about electromagnetic wave propagation through rain, go elsewhere.