Weather Parameters Influence on Radio Wave Transmission Signals in Some Selected South-Western Parts of Nigeria

Abstract

Meteorological variables such as water vapor, temperature and atmospheric pressure greatly influence radio signal transmission. In this study, the influence of air temperature variations of some selected locations in the South-Western part of Nigeria on specific attenuation, radio refractivity and water vapour were investigated using the weather parameters obtained from Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMeT) for two years (2022 and 2023). The result revealed dependence of specific attenuation on temperature as lower attenuation of 0.047 dB/Km was observed at higher temperature of 28.5oC. The surface radio refractivity in the sampling areas was found to be higher (372 N-units) during the rainy seasons and lower (247 N-units) during the dry seasons. Also, during the periods of high temperature, the water vapour content in the atmosphere was low (0.62 g/m3) signifying water vapour effects on radio propagation during the days of low temperature. In conclusion, the radio wave transmission signals were influenced by the weather parameters in the examined location.