ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIVITY ALOFT OVER NIGERIA

BY

EMMANUEL, ISRAEL (PHY/01/9943)

INTRODUCTION
Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other electromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to variation in air densities as a function of altitudes. The propagation of electromagnetic and acoustic signals in the atmosphere is substantially affected by the atmosphere motion and associated fluctuations of the refractivity and the speed of the sound respectively. For radio communication, every path between point i.e. transmitter and receiver (except communication between radio satellite) passes through the troposphere which affect propagation. Refraction takes place when two different types of medium are separated by a surface which is very large and has very small irregularities with respect to the wavelength of the radiation.

Effect of refractivity on radio wave propagation

The effect of refractivity on radio wave propagation are: It cause multipath of electromagnetic fading Anthoney, (2002) said that Terrestrial propagation of radio waves at frequency above 30MHz is significantly affected by tropospheric refraction, especially when the source and/or receiver are near a coastal line. Encyclopedia (2009),It also result to tropospheric scatter (or troposcatter) which is the scattering of distant TV and FM radio stations by the troposhere so that they travel farther than the line of sight. This effect sometimes allows reception of stations up to a hundred miles away. Tjasyono (1999), Bending of radio waves in the troposphere is caused by the variation with altitude of the viewing of propagation or the index of refraction. Adediji and Ajewole (2008) said that the refractivity of the atmosphere will not only affect the curvature of the ray path but will also provide some insight into the fading of radio waves through the atmosphere.

SCOPE OF THE RESEACH

The research work is going to see and examine the variation of refractivity and refractive gradient deducted from collected atmosphere parameters: temperature, pressure and relative humidity, along the attitude for different region in Nigeria. Nigeria will be divided into four regions base on the climatic changes, such as:

Sub-Sahelian Region(Lat 110-130)

Midland region (Lat 90-100) Guinea savannah region(Lat 70-80) Coastal region (Lat 40-60)

Figure1: Map of Nigeria

 JUSTIFICATION OF THE RESEARCH Modernization, industrialization and development in the world today are anchored majorly on telecommunication. this is dependent upon the propagation of signals within the earth atmosphere . The propagation of signal encounters some difficulties within the atmosphere which results to worst or bad signal at the receiving end such as attenuation, fluctuation or non reception of signals.

OBJECTIVES The objectives of the study are to: Observe seasonal variations of refractivities and refractivity gradient at the selected locations Observe seasonal variation of the parameters regionally over Nigeria Observe the height variations of refractivity at the various station Observe the height variations of refractivity gradient at the various stations Compare satellite retrieved refractivity parameters with radiosonde retrieved refractivity parameters over the stations for which they are available in Nigeria Observe refractivity value for each station.

REFRACTIVITY IN THE MODEL ATMOSPHERE Refractivity N is given as .1

Where T is temperature in kelvin, P is pressure in hPa and e is water vapour pressure in hPa Pressure, temperature and water vapour contents all decrease with height above the earths surface in the troposphere on the average, except in temperature inversion layers where temperature increases with height. N varies with height as N (h) = Ns exp (h/H) .2 Where N(h) is the refreactivity at a height h above which the refractivity is Ns, H is scale height . For the CCIR model atmosphere (CCIR 1982)

N (h) = 315 exp (0.136h) 3 Where 315 is the average surface refractivity and the scale height is 7.353km h is in km.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Source of Data Atmospheric parameters (temperature, pressure and relative humidity) data for this research work for Nigeria will be collected from the department of Climate Monitoring on Satellite Application Facility (CM-SAF), DWD Germany.

The products are extracted from archived data generated from several instruments on board meteorological operational satellite in geostationary and polar orbit as the Meteosat and EUMETSTAT polar system satellites, respectively. The satellites used are NOAA15, NOAA16 NOAA18

The data generated at different latitude and longitude for five different elevation levels. The data of location selected for Nigeria were based on their latitude and longitude

Figure 2 EUMETSTAT Polar Orbit

Figure 3 Meteosat Polar Orbit

Table1:Sub-Sahelian Region
Location Latitude Longitude

Sokoto

130 02N

50 14E

Kastina

130 00N

70 37E

Gashua

120 11N

110 01E

Gusau

120 11N

60 39E

Kano

110 58N

80 29E

Maiduguri

110 52N

130 07E

Table2:Mid-Land Region
Location Jos Bauchi Kumo Latitude 90 53N 100 19N 100 02N Longitude 80 35E 90 49E 110 12E

Abuja
Jimeta Bida Lafia

90 08N
90 14N 90 03N 80 29N

70 07E
120 25E 60 01E 80 30E

Table3:Guinea Savannah Region

Location Saki Ibadan Abeokuta Ado-Ekiti Akure Lokoja Enugu

Latitude 80 38N 70 24N 70 08N 70 36N 70 14N 70 48N 60 27N

Longitude 30 20E 30 54E 30 21E 50 13E 50 11E 60 44E 70 30E

table4:Coastal Region
Location Latitude Longitude

Oshodi

60 33N

30 19E

Sapele

50 55N

50 40E

Warri

50 24N

50 43E

Owerri

50 31N

70 02E

Calabar

40 57N

80 19E

Port Harcourt

40 4N

60 59E

Derivation Various formulae will be used in this research work to calculate and derive the needed parameters through the excel formular Refractivity The atmospheric refractive index can be computed by the following formula:

Where:

N = radio refractivity given as

With the dry term of radio refractivity give by: And the wet term by Where: P = Atmospheric pressure (hpa) e = Water vapour pressure (hpa) T = absolute temperature (k) But, Where: H = Relative Humidity (%) es = Saturation vapour pressure (hpa) (ITU R P453 7; the radio refractive index: Its formula and refractivity data) Equation 5 thus become:

..9

To find the saturation vapour pressure (SVP)

Equation 10 and 11 is known as Clausius-Clapeyron equation. Equations 9 and 11 will be used to find refractivity. 3.3.2 Refractive Gradient The vertical gradient of radio refractivity in the lowest layer of the atmosphere is an important parameter for the estimation of path clearance and propagation effects such as ducting, sub-refraction, super-refraction, (surface reflection) and multi-path on terrestrial line of sight links. From ITU Rec. refractive gradient is given as

Ns = refractivity at the earths surface hs = height of earths surface above sea level (km) N1 = Radio refractivity at a height h1 (km) Equation 12 will be used to calculate the refractive gradient. Young (2008): Height h (km) will be determine by using the derivation equation from the ideal gas equation

Where R = gas constant (J/mol.K) T = absolute temperature (K) M = molar mass g = acceleration due to gravity(m/s2) P = pressure at height h (hpa) P0 = standard atmospheric pressure (hpa) = 1013 hpa

Equation 15 will be substituted into equation 12 to determine pressure gradient.