Experimental investigation of rainfall effect on digital satellite television reception in Nigeria: Initial results

This study investigates the impact of rainfall on the reception of digital satellite television in the Ku-band over Akure, Nigeria (latitude 7.17° N and longitude 5.18° E). The digital television signals is received downlink EUTELSAT W4/W7, which is geo-located at longitude 36° E. For digital television content reception at 12.245 GHz and at an elevation angle of 53.2°, preliminary results is presented on the 2-year attenuation measurement. Result shows that the rain rate exceeded at 0.01 % of the time is 120 mm/h. The prevailing impact of rainfall is evidenced in the squelching of the signal and its complete loss at rainfall intensities above 64 mm/h.