Unit V

WAVE PROPAGATION
 Modes of wave propagation
1. Ground Waves or Surface Waves: They propagate near
surface of earth. They are V-polarized and exist if
antennas are close to earth. Used mainly for
broadcasting in freq. bands VLF, LF & MF.
2. Space Waves or Tropospheric Waves: Prevail at higher
distances above earth in troposphere. It is made up of
Direct Wave (DW) & ground Reflected Wave (RW). Used
for beyond the horizon commn. They are only means of
commn. beyond 30 MHz.
3. Sky Waves or Ionospheric Waves: They reach receiver
after getting refracted & reflected from ionosphere.
Used for beyond the horizon commn. or very long
distance commn. in the HF (3 - 30 MHz) range.
 Ground Wave Propagation
• Ground waves propagate from Tx to Rx by gliding over
surface of earth.
• These waves are V-polarized and Tx & Rx antennas are
close to earth.
• These waves induce charges in earth which causes
current. In carrying this current, earth behaves like a
leaky capacitor.
• Waves get weakened due to absorption of some of
their energy in earth.

Earth is considered plane, between Tx & Rx till a

distance d given by
50
d 1 miles
( fMHz ) 3
 Plane Earth Reflection
• For Tx & Rx antennas within line of sight, received
resultant signal is a combination of signal reaching Rx
through direct path and that reaching after being
reflected from ground.
• For smooth plane & finitely conducting earth,
magnitude & phase of RW differ from that of IW.

Kraus: Fig. 23-2

When earth is rough, RW tends to be scattered &
may be reduced in amplitude.

Roughness is estimated by Rayleigh criterion given by

4 sin 
R

σ: standard deviation of surface irregularities relative
to mean surface height
θ: angle of incidence measured from the normal

If R < 0.1, reflecting surface is smooth

If R > 10, reflecting surface is rough
 Reflection factors
Reflection coefficient for H-polarization:

{sin  [( r  jx )  cos  ]} 2

RH 
{sin  [( r  jx )  cos  ]} 2

Reflection coefficient for V-polarization:

{( r  jx ) sin  [( r  jx )  cos 2  ]}

RV 
{( r  jx ) sin  [( r  jx )  cos 2  ]}
 Conclusions:
When incident wave is H-polarized

• Phase of RW differs from that of IW by nearly 180˚

for all angles of incidences.
• For angles of incidences near grazing (ψ=0˚), RW is
equal in magnitude but 180˚ out-of-phase with IW
for all frequencies and for all ground σ.
• As angle of incidence is increased, both magnitude &
phase of R change. Change is more for higher
frequencies & lower ground σ.
 When incident wave is V-polarized
• At grazing incidence, RW=IW and has 180˚ phase
reversal for all ground σ.
• As angle increases from zero, mag. & phase of RW
decrease rapidly. Mag. reaches min. and phase change
goes through -90˚ at an angle called Brewster angle.
• For very high freqs. & low σ, Brewster angle has nearly
same value as it has for a perfect dielectric.
• For lower freqs. & higher σ, Brewster angle is less and
becomes zero as x > εr .
• When IW is normal to reflecting surface (ψ=90˚), there
is no difference between H & V-polarization. So,
RV = RH
E will be parallel to reflecting surface in both cases.
 Space wave and Surface wave
(from Kraus: Sec. 23-3)

According to Sommerfeld, ground wave can be

divided into two parts:
1. Space wave: It dominates at larger distances
above the earth.
2. Surface wave: It is stronger near to the earth’s
surface.
From Norton,
Etotal( space )  [ E z2( space )  E 2 ( space )]

Etotal( surface )  [ E z2( surface )  E 2 ( surface )]

A surface wave is also called Norton surface
wave.
 Space Wave Propagation
Introduction:
• The energy contents of space-wave travel from Tx to
Rx partly through DW & partly through RW.
• The net field strength at Rx antenna will be vector
sum of DW & RW fields.
• DW & RW are almost 180° out of phase for both V &
H-polarized waves.
 Field Strength Relation

Kraus: Fig. 24-2

Field strength at receiver is
 4ht hr 
E 2  0
E
 d 
 Effects of Imperfect Earth
(Kraus: Sec. 24-3)
1. E0/d field strength corresponds to DW. It will also correspond to
RW for a perfectly conducting earth.
2. |RH| & |Rv| are less than 1 as σ ≠ ∞, this being the normal
condition. So, field strength of RW at distance d is always less
than E0/d.
3. Also, phase shift Φ ≠ 180°, i.e. there is no total phase reversal
of RW. Hence, RW < DW & the total field is less than that at σ =
∞.
4. Effect is less on HPW than in case of VPW. For VPW, |Rv| <<
|RH| at small angles.
5. When σ = ∞, horizontal components of Ei & Er get cancelled at
reflected surface and vertical components add together.
6. For σ < ∞, |Rv| < 1, neither there is complete cancellation nor
complete addition.
Variation of field strength with distance
(Kraus: Fig. 24-5)
Effects of Curvature of Earth
(Kraus: Sec. 24-4)
 Due to curvature of earth:
1. The effective & actual antenna heights differ. The amount of
difference will depend on separation between Tx and Rx.
2. There is a change in the number & location of maximas &
minimas.
3. There is reduction in d’ (distance at which free space field &
oscillating field for perfectly conducting earth become equal),
beyond which the two waves tend to be out of phase.
4. Wave reflected by ground diverges. So, RW at Rx is weak. This
effect is less when the incident angle is moderate or large and
more when this angle is small. Near grazing angle, E of RW
reduces significantly at Rx by divergence effect.
5. At large distances, for small incidence angles and DW & RW in
phase opposition, resultant E at Rx is appreciably greater than
that if earth were flat.
6. The last two effects of curvature try to neutralize each other.
 Sky Wave Propagation
Introduction
Structural Details of Ionosphere

(Kraus: Fig. 25-1)

 Wave Propagation Mechanism
1. Refraction in absence of earth’s magnetic
field:
a. Interpretation-I: Inductive and Capacitive
currents

b. Interpretation-II: Vibrating electrons acting

as small radio antennas.
2. Refraction in presence of earth’s magnetic
field
Refraction and Reflection of Sky Waves
by Ionosphere
(Derivation of Refractive Index)

81N
Refractive Index n   r  1 2
f
 Ray Path
The path followed by a wave is termed ray path.
 Critical Frequency (fc)
• The highest frequency that returns from an
ionospheric layer at a vertical incidence is
called critical frequency for that particular
layer.
• For a regular layer, it is proportional to square
root of maximum electron density in the layer.

fc  9 N max
Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF)
• The maximum possible value of frequency for
which reflection takes place for a given
distance of propagation is termed as
maximum usable frequency (MUF) for that
distance and for the given ionospheric layer.

fMUF  fc sec i
This equation is called secant law.
Lowest Usable Frequency (LUF): The frequency below
which the entire power gets absorbed is called as
lowest usable frequency.

Optimum Frequency (OF): The frequency at which there

is optimum return of wave energy is called the optimum
frequency.
 Virtual Height
It is the height to which a short pulse of energy sent vertically
upward and traveling with speed of light would reach taking the
same two-way travel time as does actual pulse reflected from
ionospheric layer.
 Skip Distance
The minimum distance at which wave returns to
ground at a critical angle φc is called skip distance.
Relation between MUF and the Skip Distance
(Derivation)

• Flat Earth Case: (Kraus: Fig. 25-14 (a))

2 2
 d  f MUF
d  (2h) [ 2  1]
f MUF  f c 1   or
 2h  fc

• Curved Earth Case: (Kraus: Fig. 25-14 (b))


 d '2 / 4 
 d' 2 f 
2

f MUF  f c 1  2 or d '  2(h  )  MUF   1

 h d ' 2
/ 8R 
 8R  f c
  
Multi-Hop Propagation
Multi-Hop Propagation (contd.)
 Wave Characteristics
(Kraus: 25-12)
• VLF wave propagation
• 20 kHz to 100 kHz
• 100 kHz to 535 kHz
• 535 kHz to 1600 kHz
• 1600 kHz to 30 MHz
• Frequencies above 30 MHz (above HF band)
• VHF (metric) waves
• UHF (decimetric) and SHF (centimetric) waves
• EHF (millimetric) waves
• Sub-millimetric and Optical waves