Quantification of scaling exponents and dynamical complexity of microwave refractivity in a tropical climate

Radio refractivity index is used to quantify the effect of atmospheric parameters in communication systems. Scaling and dynamical complexities of radio refractivity across different climatic zones of Nigeria have been studied. Scaling property of the radio refractivity across Nigeria was estimated from the Hurst Exponent obtained using two different scaling methods namely: The Rescaled Range (R/S) and the detrended fluctuation analysis(DFA). The delay vector variance (DVV), Largest Lyapunov Exponent (λ1) and Correlation Dimension (D2) methods were used to investigate nonlinearity and the results confirm the presence of deterministic nonlinear profile in the radio refractivity time series. The recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) was used to quantify the degree of chaoticity in the radio refractivity across the different climatic zones. RQA was found to be a good measure for identifying unique fingerprint and signature of chaotic time series data. Microwave radio refractivity was found to be persistent and chaotic in all the study locations. The dynamics of radio refractivity increases in complexity and chaoticity from the Coastal region towards the Sahelian climate. The design, development and deployment of robust and reliable microwave communication link in the region will be greatly affected by the chaotic nature of radio refractivity in the region.