The application of a channel-individualized method for assessing long-term, realistic exposure to radiofrequency radiation emitted by mobile communication base station antennas

Human exposure to radiofrequency signals emitted by Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) base station antennas is still of interest from health and environmental protection perspectives, mainly in the long-term. With the technological advancement of real-time vector signal analyzers, a more precise exposure evaluation has become achievable. By using an original procedure based on tandem-in-time- and frequency-domain measurements and by experimental weighting to obtain a realistic field strength, we succeeded in expressing actual exposure in an urban, indoor location in the long run. The work covers two stages: one characterizes specificities of channels in the GSM900 downlink band, in order to improve experimental measurement capabilities, and the other assesses the exposure level inside the whole downlink band with best precision during 24 h. The results confirm traffic load impact on exposure level and the importance of the experimental procedure for gaining accurate results and prediction capabilities.

► Improved exposure assessment to mobile communication radiation is made by a new combined time- and frequency-domain method.
► GSM channel specific electromagnetic footprints are made available for analysis.
► Realistic exposure is expressed by using an experimental weighting technique.
► Short-term measurement samples may be used to express long-term exposure levels.