Does the humidity level in air affect the passage of microwaves? I've heard people say water is radio opaque, so could a high humidity level lead to faster signal degradation?
As an example, would mobile phone signals be affected. I ask because several times we have noticed weird inconsistencies in mobile phone reception. One clear day we will have excellent signal in our office, and on another clear day we'll have next to none. This is the same for not just my mobile provider, but two others.
Thanks in advance.
Best Answer
Humidity does affect microwave propagation, but it is difficult to give a short review - microwave attenuation by water vapor depends not only on humidity, but also on the frequency - for example, water vapor has a resonance line in the microwave band - see some details in http://cdn.intechweb.org/pdfs/14248.pdf .