249 3rd IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology (ICAST 2011)
Characterization Of Near-Ground Radiowave Propagation Profile Of The
Mangrove And Rain Forest Areas Of Nigeria
Felix Otitochukwu Agugo and Adeniran S. Adekunle
Nigerian Army School of Signals Lagos, Nigeria.
agugof@yahoo.com
Abstract—A main challenge of any smart system is the
availability of relevant information on the specific operating
environment required for the selection/activation of optimal
smart system parameters. Most short and medium range military
communication/surveillance systems operate on near ground
radio channels where radio propagation is highly affected by
ecological factors.
This paper presents a study of the radio propagation profile
within the mangrove and rain forests of Nigeria at military
combat net parameters. Theoretical evaluations and analysis of
pilot measurements for short/medium range radio propagation
show considerable contribution of radio field from possible tree-
canopy reflections at lower VHF frequencies for both short and
medium ranges in the mangrove and at medium ranges in the
rain forest. The study provides an indication to the standard
radio propagation prediction models that are most suitable for
the mangrove and rain forest areas of Nigeria at the combat net
parameters.
Keywords— Characterisation, VHF, Combat net, Forest.
I. INTRODUCTION
A main challenge of any smart system is the availability of
relevant information on the specific operating
environment, which is required for the
selection/activation of optimal smart system parameters. Most
short and medium range military communication/surveillance
systems operate on near ground radio channels where radio
propagation is highly affected by ecological factors. Currently,
the Nigerian military is involved in security operation in the
Niger Delta, and has combat communication needs within the
mangrove and rain forests. Such communication needs entails
a need for the capacity to accurately predict the effects of the
environment on their relevant equipment and systems. Of
particular interest are the systems and equipment required for
communication between dismounted soldiers and/or vehicles,
and the attended/unattended ground sensor wireless networks
used for military/security surveillance. These
equipment/systems typically operate in the VHF and UHF
bands, and are likely to be deployed in areas where the forest
structures provide them cover even from aerial view.
The current and indeed future trend of military systems and
equipment is to be smart; therefore, the development of the
necessary data base needed for the employment of smart
weapons and systems is an urgent national security, or even
national development requirement. The objective of this study
is to provide information on the radio propagation
978-1-4673-0759-8/11/$26.00©2011 IEEE
characteristics of two different ecological regions of Nigeria at
combat net parameters, i.e. the critical battle ranges of 50-300
metres and frequency band 30-80 MHz.
II. REVIEW OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Terrestrial radio communications theories consider wave
propagation in various environments based on the description
of path loss characteristics, which describe the signal decay
law [1]. This makes it possible to model complex propagation
phenomena by mathematical equations that could predict the
eventual behavior of a propagating wave in a particular
environment. The forest is a well-known complex
environment. This is because, discrete scatterers in the forest
such as the randomly distributed leaves, twigs, branches and
tree trunks could cause attenuation, scattering, diffraction, and
absorption of the radio waves depending on the propagation
parameters. Therefore, understanding and characterizing these
effects have been of interest to researchers for many years.
Both analytical and empirical works on the modelling and
characterization of the forested channel have produced some
useful and significant results [2-20]. Significant analytical
works essentially include Tamir’s model [2] of the forest as a
“dissipative slab", explaining its radio propagation by the
lateral wave theory. Subsequently, Dence and Tamir [3]
extended the theoretical explanation with the consideration of
the ground effects in the frequency range of 2 - 200 MHz.
Further research employed the three-layer (air layer, forest
layer, and ground layer) model, with full-wave Parabolic
Equation algorithm [4] and semi-exact solution. This study
showed that asymmetric communication conditions would
exist in a link if one of the terminals is outside the forest. Lias
and Sarabandi [5] reported that ray-tracing provides accurate
results at distant points from the vegetation truncation plane
when the receiver height is large in terms of the wavelength,
but underestimates the path loss for the case when the receiver
is close to the ground.
Using a three-layered anisotropic slab model at 25-100 MHz,
Li and Ling [6] showed that the effective permittivity and
conductivity of the forest layer is considerably anisotropic and
frequency dependent. Hence, the models that treat any of the
forest layers as homogeneous would not be sufficiently
accurate for sensitive applications. Generally, the
representation of the forest as a “dissipative dielectric slab" [2-
6] becomes poor for frequencies above 200MHz where the
vegetation cannot be regarded as a homogeneous medium,
since the dimensions of the vegetation is at a magnitude of an
order of the wavelength [7].
250 3rd IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology (ICAST 2011)
After successfully examining the three-layered model using
the dyadic Green's function in [8], Cavalcante et al then
proposed a four-layered (air layer, canopy layer, trunk layer
and ground layer) model in [9] to take into account the vertical
non-homogeneities of the forest. In their work, two isotropic
and homogeneous dielectric layers placed over a semi-infinite
ground plane are used to represent the tree canopy and the tree
trunk layers of a forest. All later works have continued to use
the four-layered model at VHF and UHF bands [10-16]. By
initially assuming each layer to be isotropic and homogeneous
[12, 14], Li et al applied some mathematical approximations to
express the propagation of the electric fields in terms of direct
waves, multiple reflected waves, and lateral waves. They
concluded that, although the lateral waves propagating along
the air-canopy, the canopy-trunk and the trunk-ground
interfaces play important roles in the propagation mechanism,
only the lateral wave along the upper-side (air-canopy)
interface dominates the total field in the far zone, hence plays
a major role in the communication over a large forested depth
at VHF and UHF bands [2-16]. At shorter distances, especially
in cases where the propagation is likely to occur through a
grove of trees rather than by diffraction over the canopy top,
lateral wave along other interfaces (the canopy-trunk and the
trunk-ground etc.), and multiple reflected waves from the
interfaces between adjacent layers in the multi-layer models
may all play important roles for the radio wave propagation in
forests. This is essentially the situation with near-ground
channels. Analytical modelling of this kind of situation was
reported in [1] where an array of trees were considered as
cylinders with randomly distributed surfaces, all placed on a
flat terrain. This model is very complex as it requires the user
to obtain the absorption effects from trees using their real
physical parameters, such as permittivity and conductivity, as
well as the random distribution of their branches and leaves. It
also does not consider the reflective capacities of the tree
canopies at certain frequency and distance ranges. Hence,
although the analytical models provide invaluable knowledge
of the radio wave in the forests at different propagation
parameters, and are useful for further research, they invariably
require heavy computational resources. Radio propagation
through tree groves (rather than above tree groves) may thus
be better described by empirical models which have the
advantage of simplicity of the final mathematical expressions
(although they fail to give any indication of the physical
processes involved in the propagation).
A summary of the well-known empirical models that are
relevant to near ground communication within small and
medium forest ranges include the following:
(i) Weissberger's modified exponential decay model [21] is
applicable where a ray path is blocked by dense, dry, in-leaf
trees found in temperate climates. It is applicable in the
situations where the propagation is likely to occur through a
grove of trees rather than by diffraction over the canopy top,
and is given by
0.588
Lw( dB) = 1.33 × f 0.284 × d f for14m < d f ≤ 400m (1)
where f is the frequency in GHz, and df is the foliage depth
in meters.
(ii) ITU Recommendation (ITU-R) [22] was developed from
measurements carried out mainly at UHF, and was proposed
for the cases where either the transmitting or receiving antenna
is near to a small (df < 400 m) grove of trees so that the
majority of the signal propagates through the trees. It is
described as
0.6
Litu−r ( dB) = 0.2 × f 0.3 × d f for d f ≤ 400m (2)
(iii) COST235 model [23] which was proposed based on
measurements made in millimeter wave frequencies (9.6 GHz
to 57.6 GHz) through a small (df < 200 m) grove of trees. In
COST235 model, measurements were performed over two
seasons, when the trees are in-leaf and when they are out-of-
leaf. For both ITU-R and COST235 models, f is the frequency
in MHz, and df is the foliage depth in meters.
III. PROBLEM FORMULATION
Analysis of terrain map of Nigeria [17], shows that most of the
ecological areas can be considered as flat ground especially
for short and medium ranges, with just small areas in Plateau
and Taraba States as hilly. For the flat terrain configuration,
the propagation situations that relate to the terminal antenna
positions with respect to obstructions are the main factors that
affect path loss. Usually there are three possible situations:
a. Both antennas are placed above the tops of obstacles.
b. One of the antennas is higher than the obstacles’ height
but the second one is lower.
c. Both antennas are below the tops of the obstacles,
which is the predominant situation for near-ground
channels.
For the near-ground radio wave propagation in the mangrove
and rain forests of Nigeria, the relevant obstruction is
evergreen trees whose effect on VHF waves would depend on
the foliage loss and the significance of ground and tree canopy
reflections. As mentioned in the theoretical review, near-
ground short/medium range propagation could neglect the
contribution of above-tree canopy lateral waves when both
antennas are within the forest. Thus, this study follows the
method of integrating the foliage loss and possible ground
/tree canopy reflection effects as used in [18], but considering
greater forest depths as relevant for military operational
deployments.
251 3rd IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology (ICAST 2011)
Assuming free space propagation, the path loss can be
predicted by [19]:
LFSL(dB) = -27.56 + 20 log(f) + 20 log(d) (3)
where f is the frequency in MHz, d is the distance between the
isotropic transmitting and receiving antennas in meters.
As a flat terrain, ground reflection may occur. The boundary
for such specular reflection can be determined with the help of
the 1st Fresnel zone, since the energy going from transmitter
to receiver concentrates mainly on this region. The size of the
1st Fresnel zone surrounding the geometrical ray paths as
shown in Figure 1, can be computed from the expression [20] .
h0 = 1 / 2 λd (4)
where λ is the wavelength.
When there is a single ground-reflected ray, the path loss can
be described by [19],
L1reflected(dB) = LSFL(dB) - 20 log ( ΔΦ ) (5)
where Δ Φ is the phase difference between the direct and
reflected rays given by,
ΔΦ = 4πhT hR λd (6)
where hT and hR are the transmitting and receiving antenna
heights respectively. It is assumed that d is much larger than hT
and hR.
In this work, a second reflected wave caused by the tree
canopy for short and medium-range propagation is introduced
since the radio wave is coherent. Therefore, when this second
reflected wave is present, the path loss can be described by
[19]:
L2reflected(dB) =LFSL(dB) −10log(1+ 2ΔΦ1ΔΦ2 ) (7)
where ΔΦ1 and ΔΦ 2 are the phase differences between
the direct and the ground-reflected rays, and the direct and
tree-canopy-reflected rays, respectively. The phase differences
are computed by (6 ) where for the tree-canopy-reflected ray,
hT = hR is replaced by h1 as indicated in Figure 1.
The effects of the two forest types on the propagating VHF
waves are examined with the Weissberger's modified
exponential decay model and the ITU - R model for short and
medium-ranges (from 50-300 metres). The propagation loss is
modelled by the summation of the foliage loss and the effects
from the radio-wave reflections such as the ground reflection
and the tree-canopy reflection where these exist. The proposed
integration model is then evaluated and verified
experimentally.
IV. EVALUATION AND VERIFICATIONS
Pilot measurements have been conducted in a tropical
mangrove forest and a tropical rain forest in Southern Nigeria.
Mangrove Forest. The area used is Ileado-Odo mangrove
forest in Lagos. The area contains mangrove trees and little
low level foliage as can be observed in Figure 2. The tree
heights range from 4-5 metres above the generally marshy
ground. The average tree trunk diameter is above 0.5metre
with tangled masses of root that may be 2 to 3 times the trunk
diameter and may be 1-2 metre high. The separation distance
between trees is 5-7 metre and tree canopies generally touch
each other. It is a wet tropical evergreen forest.
Rain Forest. The area is mostly covered with dense low level
foliage and contains only a few large trees. The under growth
is heavy and about 2-4 metres above ground. The average tree
height is 9-10 metres with trunk diameter of about 1.3m.
Communication Set-up
The radio transmitter was a RF5800 Radio transceiver with a
1-metre monopole whip antenna (Figure 3). The receiving
point was a VHF field strength meter 203.6018 which can
cover frequency range of 25-300MHZ. The receiving antenna
was a dipole that could be varied according to the selected
frequency. The frequencies chosen were between 30 and 80
MHz. Both antenna heights were about 1 metre above the
ground. The position of the receiver was fixed while the
transmitter was moved as required. Two Garmin Rino 120
GPS were used to select the radio locations as required.
Analysis and Evaluations
The computed minor axis ho of the 1st Fresnel zone is shown
in Table 1. Since reflection is possible only when the
reflecting surface is within the considered Fresnel zone, it can
be concluded that the ground reflection exists for all the
frequencies of interest in both forested areas. However, the
possible tree-canopy reflection only exists when the signal is
within the VHF range of less than 45MHz for the rain forest at
50 metres and below.
When ground and possible tree-canopy reflections exist, the
path loss is predicted by:
PLforest(dB) = Lfoliage(dB) + L2reflected(dB) (8)
whereas when there is only ground reflection, the path loss is
PLforest(dB) = Lfoliage(dB) + L1reflected(dB) (9)
where Lfoliage is calculated using the Weissberger’s and ITU-R
models.
Figure 4 shows the plots of PLforest versus frequency for
different distances in the mangrove. Figure 5 shows similar
plots for the rain forest. Figures 6 and 7 show similar plots
PLforest versus distance at variuos frequencies. An examination
252 3rd IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology (ICAST 2011)

of the values of PLforest, Lfoliage and L1reflected indicates the

significance of the reflection loss compared to PLforest. Also a
comparison of the values of the reflection loss with/without
the consideration of tree canopy reflections clearly highlights
the significance of the tree canopy reflections. It is found the
consideration of tree canopy reflection could reduce total path
loss by up to 20-30 dB. Figure 8 has plots of total path loss
versus frequency and distance based on the pilot measurement
at mangrove site. It shows significant agreement with Figures
4-7, and thus verifies the importance of the loss components
considered above. The values and general pattern show closer
agreement with ITU-R model than Weissberger’s model.
Although mindful that experimental measurements used are Fig. 2. Photograph of the Mangrove forest.
just pilot measurement and that elaborate measurements would
be required at several other sites, this evaluation and
preliminary verification highlight the necessity and expected
direction of further study of VHF propagation in the mangrove
and rain forests of Nigeria.

V. CONCLUSIONS
This study is an effort to develop the radio propagation profile
of the mangrove and rain forest areas of Nigeria by an
integration of analytic and empirical methods. The empirical
models considered have a lot of bearing with the pilot
measurement carried out. We consider that when the
integration model is perfected, the influence of the
environment on the wave propagation in the mangrove and
rain forests of Nigeria would be perfectly characterized. So
far, this study has brought out interesting indications of results
that would enhance the operation of smart military
communication systems in Nigeria. Fig. 3. Photograph of Transmitter.

graph of PLforest versus frequency for different distances in the rainforest

200
d = 50m
190 d = 100m
d = 150m
d = 200m
180
d = 250m
d = 300m
170
Total Loss (dB)

160

150

140

130

Fig. 1. Ray tracing geometry of direct-1, ground-reflected-2

120
and tree-canopy-reflected-3 waves [18]. 30 40 50 60
Frequency (MHz)
70 80 90

FIG.4: GRAPHS SHOWING TOTAL PATH LOSS AGAINST

FREQUENCY USING WEISSBERGERS MODEL.
253 3rd IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology (ICAST 2011)

Graph of PLforest versus frequency for different distances in the mangrove with ITU-R M
180
d=50m
Graph of PLforest versus frequency for different distances in the rain forest with ITU-R Model
d=100m 200
170
d=150m d=50m
d=200m d=300m
190
160 d=250m d=250m
d=300m d=200m
d=150m
Total Loss (dB)

180
150 d=100m

Total Loss (dB)

170
140

160
130

150
120
140

110
30 40 50 60 70 80 90
130
Frequency (MHz) 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Frequency (MHz)
Fig.5: Graphs showing total path loss against frequency
using ITU-r model.
FIG.6: GRAPHS SHOWING TOTAL PATH LOSS AGAINST
FREQUENCY USING ITU-R MODEL.

200
f=30MHz
f=40MHz
190
f=50MHz
f=60MHz
180 f=70MHz
f=80MHz
Total Path Loss (dB)

170

160

150

140

130
50 100 150 200 250 300
Forest Depth (m)

FIG.6: GRAPHS SHOWING TOTAL PATH LOSS AGAINST DISTANCE

AT PARTICULARFREQUENCIES (RAIN FOREST).
 254 3rd IEEE International Conference on Adaptive Science and Technology (ICAST 2011)

200
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f=60MHz
180
f=70MHz [3] D. Dence and T. Tamir, ”Radio loss of lateral waves in
f=80MHz
forest environments," Radio Sci., Vol. 4,, No. 4, 1969,
Total Path Loss (dB)

170
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160
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150
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140
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120
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140 Trans. Antennas Propag., Vol. 31, No. 1, 1983, pp. 141-
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130
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110
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MEASUREMENTS
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Freq 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 1111.
(MHz) [13] J. H. Koh, L. W. Li, P. S. Kooi, T. S. Yeo, and M. S.
ho at d=50 11 10 9.7 9.1 8.7 8.3 7.9 7.3 7.1 6.8 6.6
ho at d=100 15.8 14.6 13.7 12.9 12.2 11.7 11.2 10.7 10.4 10 9.6 Leong, “Dominant lateral waves in canopy layer of a
ho at d=150
ho at d=200
19.4
22.4
17.4
20.7
16.8
19.3
15.8
18.3
15
17.3
14.3
16.5
13.6
15.8
13.2
15.1
12.3
14.1
11.8
13.7
11.5
13.3
four-layered forest," Radio Sci., Vol. 34, No. 3, 1999, pp.
ho at d=250 25 23.1 21.6 20.4 19.4 18.5 17.7 16.9 16.4 15.8 15.3 681- 691.
ho at d=300 27.4 25.3 23.7 22.4 21.2 20.2 19.4 18.6 17.9 17.3 16.8
[14] L. W Li, T. S. Yeo, P. S. Kooi, M. S. Leong, and
J. H. Koh, “Analysis of electromagnetic wave propagation
in forest environment along multiple paths," Journal of
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