Speaker
Description
New generation of E-band commercial microwave links (CMLs) operating at frequency band 70 - 86 GHz is gradually completing cellular backhaul networks and especially in cities often replacing older devices. CML rainfall retrieval methods developed during last decade have been designed and tested for frequency bands 20-40 GHz, where path attenuation caused by raindrops is almost linearly related to rainfall intensity and does not strongly depend on drop size distribution. This contribution assesses potential of E-band CMLs for rainfall retrieval by combining theoretical calculations and observations retrieved from E-band CMLs operating within cellular backhaul of T-Mobile, CZ. The initial results show that i) number of E-band CMLs has increased dramatically during last three years, ii) CML rainfall retrieval at E-band is sensitive to drop size distribution and spatial variability of rainfall, and iii) E-band CMLs are about three times more sensitive to rainfall than older 20-40 GHz devices, which enables to reliably measure rainfalls even with short (sub-kilometre long) CMLs. Longer CMLs, on the other hand, experience outages during heavier rainfalls, nevertheless, they can measure reliably light rainfalls, which has not been mostly feasible with old generation of devices.
