About this rain attenuation model
This tool implements the standard ITU-R P.838-3 (specific rain attenuation coefficients k and α) combined with the ITU-R P.618-13 slant-path prediction method, including the horizontal and vertical path-reduction factors and the availability scaling.
Specific attenuation: γ_R = k · Rα (dB/km), where k and α depend on
frequency, polarization and elevation angle.
The attenuation exceeded 0.01% of the year, A₀.₀₁ = γ_R · L_E, is then scaled to your target
availability. Rain fade rises sharply with frequency — negligible at C-band, significant at Ku, and a
dominant design driver at Ka-band and above.
For accurate site numbers, use the local R₀.₀₁ rain rate from ITU-R P.837 and rain height
from ITU-R P.839. Feed the resulting fade into the
link budget calculator as your rain-loss term.
All computation runs locally in your browser.