Characterization of Atmospheric Variability on Long Range 3.4 GHz Propagation

To investigate the effects of atmospheric variability on radiofrequency propagation over land, a month-long received power measurement campaign was performed over a 14.5 km path at 3.4 GHz. Results demonstrate a ±3.4 dB variability about the median; the variability was best characterized by a Rician distribution with K = 26 dB. A comprehensive analysis of atmospheric data demonstrated that signal variability was only correlated with the diurnal solar cycle.