Assessment of polarization dependence of body shadow effect on dosimetry measurements in 2.4  GHz band

Personal exposure meters (PEMs) are portable measuring devices of electromagnetic field levels. Extreme proximity of the wearer causes an underestimation in logged data, known as body shadow effect (BSE), which undermines the reliability of exposure measurements. This paper analyzes the influence of horizontal polarization of the radiation source on PEM measurements in four multipath environments and under dynamic conditions, at a frequency band of 2.4 GHz. By comparing experimental measurements and simulated results, the PEM wearer is modeled theoretically as a shadow angle whose value is determined in terms of maximum P‐value and minimum root mean square error. This angle is 9° for horizontal polarization, and tripled, 26°, for vertical polarization. Therefore, polarization of the radiation source is a dependence factor for exposure assessment, since in horizontal polarization, the BSE corresponds to a lower loss than in vertical polarization. In addition, the validity of using correction factors in order to mitigate errors induced by the BSE is questioned, since correction factors do not reflect all the properties of fading components of unperturbed exposure. Bioelectromagnetics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Source: Bioelectromagnetics - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research