I.

INTRODUCTION
SPACE SIGNALS TRAVEL OR PROPOGATES
FROM TX TO RX
THE ENERGY LEVELS DECREASES
RAPIDLY WITH DISTANCE OF TX
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE ALSO
AFFECTED BY OBJECTS ALONG THE WAY
(EG. TREES, BUILDINGS AND
STRUCTURES
PATH OF EM SIGNALS ACTUALLY
DEPENDS ON MANY
FACTORS SUCH AS FREQUENCY OF
SIGNAL, ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION AND
TIME OF THE DAY
WITH THESE FACTORS, THE QUALITY OF
SIGNAL CAN BE IDENTIFIED
II. BASIC MODED OF WAVE PROPAGATION
1.GROUND (SURFACE) WAVE PROPAGATION
METHOD
A GROUND WAVE IS AN EM WAVE THAT
TRAVELS ALONG THE EARTH SURFACE
IT IS ACTUALLY FOLLOW THE CURVATURE
OF THE EARTH
IT MUST HAVE A VERTICAL POLARIZATION
TO PROPAGATE FROM ANTENNA

BECAUSE THE ELECTRIC FIELD IN A

HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED WAVE WOULD
BE PARALLEL TO THE EARTHS SURFACE.
THE HORIZONTALLY POLARIZED WAVES
ARE ABSORBED BY THE EARTH( SHORT
CIRCUITED TO THE GROUND)
USED IN WORLD-WIDE COMMUNICATIONS
IN THE VLF AND LF BANDS AND FOR
BROADCASTING IN THE MF BANDS
GENERALLY EFFECTIVE ONLY UP TO 2
MHZ.

FIGURE 1 GROUND WAVE PROPAGATION

THE FIELD STRENGTH AT A DISTANCE
FROM A TRANSMITTING ANTENNA IS GIVEN
BY:
A=

120 hI
lr

WHERE:
120-CHARACTERISTIC IMPEDANCE OF
FREE SPACE

HT AND HR-EFFECTIVE HEIGHT OF THE

TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING
ANTENNA, RESPECTIVELY
L-ANTENNA CURRENT
R-DISTANCE FROM THE TRANSMITTING
ANTENNA
L-WAVELENGTH
THE SIGNAL RECEIVED AT THAT
DISTANCE IF A RECEIVING ANTENNA IS IN
PLACE IS:
V= ,,hr
A.APPLICATIONS
SHIP TO SHIP COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
SHIP TO SHORE COMMUNICATION
RADIO NAVIGATION
MARITIME MOBILE COMMUNICATION
B. ADVANTAGES
GIVEN ENOUGH AMOUNT OF POWER FOR
TRANSMISSION, GROUND WAVE CAN BE
USED TO COMMUNICATE BETWEEN ANY
TWO LOCATION IN THE WORLD
GROUND WAVES ARE RELATIVELY
UNAFFECTED BY CHANGING OF THE
ATMOSPHERIC CONDITION
C. DISADVANTAGES
REQUIRE HIGLY TRANSMISSION POWER

 LIMITED TO VLF,LF AND MF, THEREFORE

REQUIRED LARGE ANTENNA
GROUND WAVE LOSSES VARY
CONSIDERABLY WITH SURFACE
MATERIALS.
2. SKY-WAVE (IONOSPHERIC) PROPAGATION
METHOD
SIGNAL REFLECTED FROM IONIZED
LAYER OF ATMOSTPHERE BACK DOWN TO
EARTH
SIGNAL CAN TRAVEL A NUMBER OF HOPS,
BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN
IONOSPHERE AND EARTHS SURFACE
REFLECTION EFFECT CAUSED BY
REFRACTION
GENERALLY EFFECTIVE ABOVE 2MHZ UP
TO 30MHZ.
EXAMPLES ARE AMATEUR RADIO, CB
RADIO AND LONG DISTANCE BROADCAST
A RADIO WAVE THAT ENTERS THE E
LAYER WITH AN ANGLE OF INCIDENT 0
WILL CONTINIOUSLY BE REFRACTED
AWAY FROM THE NORMAL.
IF THE VALUES OF THE ELECTRON
DENSITY N AND FREQUENCY F ARE SUCH
THAT

n=

sin 0
81 N
= 1
sin 0
f

WHERE:
N-NUMBER OF FREE ELECTRONS PER
M^3
n=FREQUENCY OF RADIO WAVE (HZ)
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2 SKY WAVE PROPAGATION

3. SPACE WAVE (TROPOSPHERIC)
PROPAGATION METHOD
DIRECT WAVE AND GROUND REFLECTED
WAVE ALSO KNOWN AS LINE OF SIGHT
PROPAGATION
THE DIRECT WAVE IS THE MOST
COMMONLY USED MODE IN ANTENNA
COMMUNICATION
THE PROPAGATED WAVE IS DIRECT FROM
TRANSMITTING ANTENNA TO RECEIVING
ANTENNA AND DOES NOT TRAVEL
ALONG THE GROUND, MEANS THE

EARTHS SURFACE DOES NOT ATTENUATE

IT.
BECOMES COMPULSORY WHEN
FREQUENCY GENERALLY EXCEEDS 30
MHZ AND BEYOND UP TO 300GHZ.
TWO GENERAL COMPONENTS ARE:
(1) ONE OF WHICH TRAVELS IN A VERY
NEARLY STRAIGHT LINE BETWEEN
THE TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING
ANTENNAS(DIRECT SPACE WAVE),
AND
(2) THE OTHE WHICH TRAVELS BY MEANS
OF A SINGLE REFLECTION FROM THE
EARTH( GROUND REFLECTED SPACE
WAVE).
USED FOR SOUND AND TELEVISION
BROADCASTING FOR RADIO RELAY
SYSTEMS, AND FOR VARIOUS MOBILE
SYSTEMS OPERATING IN THE VHF, UHF
AND SHF BANDS
WAVE IS LIMITED BY
(1) EARTHS CURVATURE (LINE OF SIGHT
DEPENDENT) AND
(2) HEIGHTS OF TRANSMITTING AND
RECEIVING ANTENNAS

 MAXIMUM RADIO RANGE (LINE OF SIGHT

DISTANCE BETWEEN TRANSMITTER AND
RECEIVER TOWERS) IS GIVEN BY:
d=dt+dr= 17 ht+ 17 hr
WHERE:
D-DISTANCE BETWEEN ANTENNAS(KM)
HT-TRANSMITTING ANTENNAS HEIGHT IN
METER
HR-RECEIVING ANTENNAS HEIGHT IN
METER

FIGURE 3 SPACE WAVE PROPAGATION

III. OTHER MODES OF WAVE PROPAGATION
1. FREE SPACE PROPAGATION
RADIO SIGNALS TRAVELS IN FREE SPACE,
OR AWAY FROM OTHER OBJECTS WHICH
INFLUENCE THE WAY IN WHICH THEY
TRAVEL.
IT IS ONLY THE DISTANCE FROM THE
SOURCE WHICH AFFECTS THE WAY IN
WHICH THE FIELD STRENGTH REDUCES.

 ENCOUNTERED WITH SIGNALS

TRAVELLING TO AND FROM SATELLITES.
2. PROPAGATION BY SATELLITES
COMMUNICATION SATELLITES ARE
ORBITING AROUND THE EARTH AT
APPROXIMATELY 22, 300 MILES ABOVE.
RECEIVED A SIGNAL FROM AN EARTH
STATION, AMPLIFY IT AND THEN
TRANSMIT IT AT A DIFFERENT
FREQUENCY TOWARDS THE EARTH.
ACTING AS RADIO REPEATER IN OUTER
SPACE
COMMONLY USED TO CARRY
INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONY SYSTEMS
AND TELEVISION SIGNALS

FIGURE 4 PROPAGATION BY SATELLITES

3. TROPOSPHERIC SCATTER METHOD

 CONSIDERED A SPECIAL CASE OF SKY

WAVE
A TROPOSPHERIC-SCATTER RADIO LINK
OPERATES WITH ITS DISTANT TERMINAL
WELL BEYOND THE RADIO HORIZON
A VERY SMALL PROPORTION OF THE
RADIATED ENERGY IS FORWARD
SCATTERED BY THE TROPOSPHERE AND
DIRECTED DOWNWARDS TOWARDS THE
RECEIVING ANTENNA
MOST OF THE TRANSMITTED ENERGY
CONTINUES UPWARDS, PASSED
THROUGH THE IONOSPHERE AND
RADIATED INTO SPACE.
POSSIBLE AT MOSTLY FREQUENCY ABOVE
500MHZ
MAIN APPLICATION IS A COMMUNICATION
OVER HOSTILE TERRAIN WHERE
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM WOULD NOT
BE ECONOMICAL
PROVIDES A BANDWIDTH OF SEVERAL
MHZ AND IS EMPLOYED TO CARRY
WIDEBAND TELEPHONY SYSTEM
USEFUL ENERGY RETURNED TO EARTH
TYPICALLY 1KM OR 2KM ABOVE THE
EARTH

 BOTH THE TRANSMITTER LAUNCH

ANGLE AND THE SCATTER ANGLE
SHOULD BE SMALL, USUALLY LESS THAN
4

FIGURE 5 TROPOSPHERIC SCATTER

PROPAGATION METHOD
REFERENCES:
HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/JAYLEONG111
/CHAPTER-8-WAVE-PROPAGATION
HTTP://WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/ISHANEGI35/A
NTENNAS-WAVE-AND-PROPAGATION