Measured LWC-Specific Fog Attenuation and Frequency Scaling in Low-THz Channels

Abstract

Fog can reduce the link margin of terahertz (THz) wireless systems. Earlier channel measurements mainly relied on visibility, and almost no liquid water content (LWC) referenced attenuation coefficients have been reported. This letter reports controlled fog measurements at low-THz frequencies (120, 140, and 160 GHz) over a 22 m channel. LWC is retrieved from a time-aligned droplet size distribution (DSD) and paired with the fog-induced attenuation to obtain the relationship between attenuation and LWC at each frequency. The comparison with ITU-R P.840 is posed as an errors-in-variables problem. This separates the absolute coefficient from its frequency dependence - how the coefficient grows with frequency. Expressed as a power law of frequency, the measured exponent is 1.347, matching the value of 1.343 implied by P.840 at 20 oC. The results provide reference data and a compact scaling law for fog link budgeting at low-THz frequencies.