Cumulative slant path rain attenuation statistics associated with the Comstar beacon at 28.56 GHz for Wallops Island, Va.

The paper presents and characterizes the cumulative fade statistics for the 1 April 1977 to 31 March 1978 period for the Wallops Island site on the basis of direct measurements of a beacon signal at 28.56 GHz emanating from the Comstar geosynchronous satellite. Also presented are the month and time of day statistics as well as the rain gage rain-rate distribution. The concept of effective path length using the 28.56-GHz fade and measured rain-rate distributions are employed to predict the 19.04-GHz fade distribution. Predicted distributions for the year period are obtained from disdrometer data and radar results.