Radio wave depolarization simulator based on the SC EXCELL model

The depolarization caused by the non-sphericity of hydrometeors has to be taken in due account in the design of satellite communication systems making use of polarization diversity to increase the bandwidth made available. Even if many authors have already discussed this issue from the theoretical and the experimental point of view, a simulator for the evaluation of the depolarizing effects caused by hydrometeors in their different physical states is still missing. In this contribution we present a tool to support the analysis of XPD (Cross Polarization Discrimination) measurements allowing a better understanding of the different contributions to the total depolarization, of the impact of the variability (in time and space) of the instantaneous particle size distribution and drop shape.