Radio Propagation in Rural Residential Areas with Vegetation

In this paper we describe radio wave propagation within mixed residential area consisting of vegetation and houses. We assume no specific knowledge of the houses and vegetation location, but only of their statistical parameters. A three-dimensional (3D) stochastic approach, which is based on the statistical description of the terrain features, houses and vegetation, and deterministic description of signal decay is presented. The scattering and diffraction from trees and buildings, as well as the diffused reflection from the rough structures of the obstructions are modeled using the statistical description of an array of non-transparent phase screens randomly distributed on the rough terrain. The model, which accounts for single scattering and diffraction phenomena and a similar model, which accounts for multiple scattering effects without effects of diffraction are compared with measurements carried out in typical rural mixed residential areas with vegetation. The accuracy of the theoretical prediction is analyzed accounting possible variations of the terrain features. The approach presented here is applicable in many cases, where specific topographical information is not available.