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Abstract

Microwave signal propagation may suffer attenuation and phase rotation by suspended particles during sand and dust storms (SDS) in arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. This development has received considerable interest in recent time. Thus, attenuation and phase rotation induced by SDS were investigated and models for estimating these propagation parameters are presented in this paper. Using Rayleigh method, the models were premised on the complex forward scattering amplitude of dust particles with spherical shape. Three different conditions were tested to proof the suitability of the method used. The results show that the Rayleigh approximation method is suitable and valid in determining scattering effects of dust particles with spherical shape for frequency range and dust particle sizes considered. The microwave (MW) attenuation and phase rotation expressions are proposed as functions of visibility, complex permittivity and wavelength. It was found that attenuation and phase rotation increase with increase in severity of SDS. Also, attenuation in dry dust is only influential at frequency of lower millimetric wave range or when the visibility becomes severe.