Experimental Analysis of the Impact of Weather on Signal Strength in the CBRS Frequency Spectrum

Weather variations can significantly impact the performance of 5G and 6G networks. Although much research has been conducted on these impacts, there has been limited focus specifically on Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) networks, which operate at 3.5 GHz spectrum. Analyzing these effects is crucial for CBRS-based private networks, where reliability and high performance are critical. This paper explores how different weather parameters, such as temperature, relative humidity, absolute humidity, rainfall, and snowfall, affect the signal strength in the CBRS spectrum. Through an extensive experimental campaign within a CBRS-based private LTE network in Buffalo, NY, we collected signal strength data from 32 data collection points over 21 months. Using weather data from Oikolab, our data-driven analyses indicate that relative humidity is a more reliable predictor of signal strength fluctuations compared to temperature and absolute humidity. We also investigate how various types of precipitation affect signal strength, with rainfall causing immediate decreases and snowfall leading to more prolonged impacts. These insights are vital for enhancing understanding of the impact of weather on the CBRS spectrum, a topic not extensively covered in the existing literature. The datasets used in this study are publicly available at https://github.com/WN4SS/CBRSdata.