Gap Analysis of Ambient Electromagnetic Noise Measurements Stored in the ITU Data Banks

Abstract

For any radio frequency (RF) sensor (receiver) to function optimally, the ambient noise field strength, converted to electrical power by the transducer (antenna), must be lower than the in-ternal noise of that sensor. Therefore, knowledge of the expected ambient noise level is essential for the design of sensors for earth observation, atmospheric research, radio astronomy or navigation. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) provides a model that predicts ambient man-made noise levels, differentiated by frequency, origin and environment. This is entirely empirical model is based on data from the 1960′s and 1970′s. In recent years, 90,205 noise measurements have been collected to update the model. The analysis of that data set presented here is essential as it shows a pitfall to avoid: despite to size of the data set it is sparce over the parameter space, and unacceptable biases occur when a purely empirical model is based on them. The paper proposes another approach: to create a mathematical model based on physics that can be fine-tuned and validated using these collected measurements, without producing the biases. A revolutionary side effect of such a model would be the linking of two currently isolated domains, that of spectrum management and electromagnetic compatibility.

Keywords

• ambient
• electromagnetic noise
• radio noise
• man-made noise
• EMC
• measurement