Experimental Determination of Three Hourly Refractivity of IDAH, Kogi State, Nigeria

The change in radio refractivity of an area affects the strength of radio frequency communication signals transmitted and/or received in the area, as refractivity is related to signal strength. The aim of this work is to determine how radio refractivity changes after a given time interval in a day. The data of temperature, pressure, and relative humidity recorded by a digital thermo-hygrometer mounted on a pole close to the ground level in Aija-Idah (7.1114 o N, 6.7356o) of Kogi state was used to calculate the three hourly refractivity for two days (December 17 and 24, 2016) with one week interval. It was observed that the radio refractivity varied after each three hours interval, and the change is mostly a function of relative humidity. It was also observed that the refractivity in week 2 (harmattan day) was less than that of week 1 (day with no harmattam), hence allowing communication signal strength to travel farther than any other days without harmattan.