ESTIMATION OF SAFE PARTICULATES THRESHOLDS FOR BETTER RADIO SIGNAL STRENGTH USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHOD

Abstract

The research formulated a mathematical model for evaluating the effects of particulates on radio signal strength. In the study, particulates such as oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of Sulphur (SO_x), and particulate matter (PM₁₀) with corresponding meteorological parameters were obtained for Abuja, the capital territory from the Centre for Atmospheric Research (CAR). The Response Surface Method was adopted. The model was adopted to solve the formulated optimization problem for optimal levels of signal strength and analyze the results. The model calculated the corresponding signal strength at 106.3MHz of WE-FM radio station, Abuja within the period of 2001 and 2016. From the results, it was observed that the specific particulates investigated exhibited both linear and inverse relationships with signal strength. The relationship was anomalous. The coefficient of determination (R²) for the model of NO_x, CO, SO_x, and PM₁₀ in terms of radio signal strength was 0.9931 at a significant p-value of 0.0421. An optimal radio signal strength of 1.7562E+006 dB was obtained for safe particulate thresholds of NO_x, 1351.02, CO, 38342.43, SO_x, 77.92, and PM_10, 96.95 kg/year respectively at a desirability of 0.999. It is, therefore, concluded that the mathematical model is promising, effective and efficient for predicting safe particulates thresholds for better radio signal strength.