Ka-Band rain attenuation derived from a MEO satellite constellation

A procedure to extract rain attenuation from MEO satellite signals is presented in the framework of MEKaP (MEO Ka-band Propagation), a European Space Agency (ESA) funded project. This task involves removing from the received signal the effects induced by the presence of gases along the path, by the change in the distance to the satellite and by the variation of the onboard antenna gain as perceived at the ground station. To this aim, ancillary data are exploited, such as satellite ephemeris, ERA5 products and some basic information on the onboard antenna. Some preliminary examples of the rain attenuation derived in three sites with different climatic conditions (Milan and Rome, Italy; Aveiro, Portugal) are reported, showing the effectiveness of the proposed procedure. Once refined, such methodology will be applied to all the data collected during the experimental campaign (from 1/1/2022 to 31/12/2023) to produce rain attenuation statistics, in turn useful for the evaluation and development of propagation models for NGSO satellite links (e.g. prediction of the rain attenuation complementary cumulative distribution function).