Atmospheric gases, building materials, the weather … The propagation of wireless communications signals depends upon a whole range of factors, any or all of which can have a significant impact on the quality of a signal. Data generated by careful measurement of signals propagating under various environmental conditions are therefore fundamental to designing and building efficient, robust, and economical communication systems. This handbook presents models that describe that data and make predictions for conditions that will affect operational systems. The author-chair of the science panel for the ACTS propagation experiment-focuses on EM waves of 0.3 to 300 GHz propagating through the lower atmosphere. The handbook describes the physical phenomena that can affect propagation, presents sample measurements and statistics, and provides models that system designers can use to calculate their link budgets and estimate the limitations the atmosphere could place on their designs. Communications engineers around the world need this information readily at hand, not scattered throughout the literature. For engineers and systems designers involved in communications, navigation, radar, or remote sensing, the Propagation Handbook for Wireless Communication System Design will quickly become a standard and heavily relied-upon reference. Features · Presents data and models useful for long and short terrestrial and Earth-space paths and a broad range of frequencies · Incorporates measurements from the ACT propagation experiment, many previously unpublished · Explains in detail several new propagation models developed from analyses of the ACT data Presents models for predicting rain-rate statistics and gaseous absorption effects, a new ray tracing model, and improved models for predicting scintillation effects