1

E E 417/517/510

Electromagnetic Radiation,
Antennas, and Propagation

No. 18
Radio Wave Propagation and Ground Plane
(Balanis, 4.8)

Jiming Song

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Iowa State University
2130 Coover Hall, Ames, IA 50011

2
Radio Frequency Spectrum
Acronym Freq. Range Wavelength Applications
5 4
ELF 3 - 30 Hz 10 - 10 km
4 3
SLF 30 - 300 Hz 10 - 10 km Submarine, navigation, sonar, long-range
ULF
3
300 Hz - 3 kHz 10 - 100 km navigation
VLF 3 - 30 kHz 100 - 10 km
LF 30 - 300 kHz 10 - 1 km Navy comm, Navaigation (NDBS)
MF 300 kHz - 3 MHz 1 km - 100 m Navigation (NDBS), AM broadcast
Int'l short wave broadcast, ship to shore,
HF 3 - 30 MHz 100 - 10 m telephone, telegraphy, long-range aircraft
comm., amateur radio
FM broadcast, Television, Police/Fire, air
VHF 30 - 300 MHz 10 - 1 m
traffic control, radionavigation aids
UHF 300 MHz - 3 GHz 100 - 10 cm Satellite, GPS, Cell Phone, Television,
SHF 3 - 30 GHz 10 - 1 cm Microwave links
EHF 30 - 300 GHz 10 - 1 mm Satellite links
6
IR - Optics 300 - 10 GHz 1 mm -0.3 m Optical communications, fiber-optical links
 3
Wave Propagation

4
Wave Propagation

ELF Sensor

Rivera and Bansal, IEEE

Antennas & Propagation
Magazine,
February 2004

1. Long wave: Extremely low or very low frequency (the frequency is up to 30 kHz
and the wavelength is greater than 10 km)
Antennas are very large and close to the ground
Reflected from ionosphere and propagated in earth-ionosphere waveguide
Communication with submarine
 5
Submerged Communications

Rivera and Bansal,

IEEE Antennas &
Propagation Magazine,
February 2004

Collin: Antennas and

Propagation

6
Wave Propagation (contd.)
2. Ground wave: Frequencies from 30 kHz to 3 MHz (the wavelength is from
10 km to 100 m)

Propagated along the ground over a few hundred miles by the means of
surface wave
AM broadcasting

3. Short wave: Frequencies from 3 MHz to 30 MHz (the wavelength is from

100 m to 10 m)

Propagate thousand miles by reflection from the ionosphere

Shortwave broadcasting

4. Space wave: Frequencies above 30 MHz (the wavelength is

shorter than 10 m)

Small antennas
Propagate along line-of-sight, high attenuation at higher frequency
Lots of applications
 7
Ground Plane
Ideal ground plane:
infinite, plane, perfect conductor

Real ground planes (approximated):

Roof of car
Surface of aircrafts and ships
Radial wires
The real earth

Radial wires
Conductivity of copper:   5.7  10 S/m
7

Conductivity of the earth:   10  3 ~ 10  1 S/m

8
Ground Plane (contd.)

Complex relative dielectric constant r   r  j
 0
Conductivity Relative dielelctric
Material
 (S/m) constant, r
Dry soil 0.001 4-7
Average soil 0.005 15
Wet soil 0.02 25-30
Sea water 4 81
Fresh water 0.01 81
Distilled water 0.0001 81

CNN on 1/22/2006, "You can talk to a man on the face of the moon and
you can't talk to a miner 1,000 feet underground," Rockefeller, a senator
from West Virginia, said, after the underground coal mine tragedy.
 9
Importance of Ultra/Very Low Frequency

DARPA’s program on A Mechanically Based Antenna (AMEBA), 2017

10
Ground Plane (contd.)
Real Earth Ground Plane:
Because of low conductivity the induced currents flow inside the
earth and causes extra ohmic loss.

Approach: Images depending on the polarization and incident angles.

A short vertical dipole above a real earth

z r1  Ile jkr1 Ile jkr2 
r E  jk sin    Rv 
 4 r1 4 r2 
I 
r2 Ile jkr
sin   e jkh cos  Rv e jkh cos 
l
 jk
h    0 , 0 4 r

h k    0 0   0  0
 r  0 , 0 ,  x
Rv I
 11
Ground Plane (contd.)
R v is the vertical reflection coefficient (parallel to the plane of incidence).
z
A short horizontal dipole above a real earth Il r
In x-z plane 
Ile jkr h
E  jk cos   e jkh cos  Rv e jkh cos  x
4 r h
In y-z plane
Ile jkr jkh cos
E  jk
4 r
 e  Rh e jkh cos  R v Il

Rh is the horizontal reflection coefficient z

(perpendicular to the plane of incidence) Il r

cos   r  sin 2  h 
Rh  R 
cos   r  sin 2  y
h
r cos   r  sin 2 
Rv   R 
r cos   r  sin 2   R h Il

12

Rv Rv

Rh Rh

  1.2 102 S/m and  r  15 S&T’s book, Fig. 5.47

 13
Ground Plane (contd.)

Vertical short dipole

above the surface

h   4, f  1 GHz

Balanis, Fig. 4.35

14
Ground Plane (contd.)
Horizontal short
dipole above the
  0 surface   90

h   4, f  1 GHz

Balanis, Fig. 4.37

To reduce the ohmic loss from the earth at low

frequency (< 300 MHz), use a radial ground system to
give a path for the induced currents.
There are as many as 120 wires with about a
quarter-wavelength.
The radial wires can be laid on top of the ground or
buried slightly.
 15
Antennas Over A Flat Earth
We have discussed real earth ground plane, now we focus on path of rays.

Radiation pattern:
e jk0r1
Direct ray: f1 1  f 2 1 f1   , f 2  
4 r1

r1
1
z  2
Transmitter Receiver
1
2
h2
h1 

h1
r2 x
d
Image point

16
Antennas Over A Flat Earth
e jk r 0 2

Reflected ray: Rf1  2  f 2  2 

4 r2
Reflection coefficients R: depend on polarizations and angles

Total voltage at the receiver

e jk0r1 e jk0r2
f1 1  f 2 1  Rf1  2  f 2  2 
4 r1 4 r2

e jk0r1  f1  2  f 2 2  r1  jk0  r2 r1  

 f1 1  f 2 1 1  R e 
4 r1  f1 1  f 2 1 r2 

Path-gain factor F
Assume that d  h1 , d  h2 , then

 2  1 ,  2  1, r1  d   h2  h1   2d  , r2  d   h2  h1   2d 
2 2
 17
Antennas Over A Flat Earth
r1  r2  2h1h2 d
Path-gain factor F
f1  2  f 2  2  r1  jk0  r2 r1 
F  1 R e  1  Re jk0 2 h1h2 d

f1 1  f 2 1  r2


Reflection coefficients R: depend on polarizations, angles, and frequency.

When    2, R  1,

k hh  k hh
F  1  e jk0 2 h1h2 d
 2 sin  0 1 2   2 0 1 2
 d  d
The received signal voltage varies as the inverse square of the distance.
e jk0r1 k0 h1h2 r1  d   h2  h1 
2
 2d 
f1 1  f 2 1
2 r1 d

Fresnel Zones 18

Fresnel zones are imaginary regions around the direct ray.

The nth Fresnel zone is the region inside an ellipsoid defined by the locus
of points where distance (a+b) is larger than the direct path between
transmitter and receiver (d1+d2) by n half-wavelengths.

n d1d 2
a  b  d1  d 2  n  2 rn 
d1  d 2

Saunders, Antennas and Propagation for Wireless Communication Systems

 Fresnel Zones 19

The paths in the first Fresnel zone have delays between 0 to 180 degrees.

The paths in the second Fresnel zone have delays between 180 to 360 degrees.

We know that there is 180 degree delay from the reflection by flat objects like ground,
so no objects are allowed in the first Fresnel zone (0.5 or 0.6 more accurately). It is
called Fresnel zone clearance.

Saunders, Antennas and Propagation for Wireless Communication Systems

Fresnel Zones 20

Given the heights of the transmitter and receiver, the distance at which the first
Fresnel zone first touches the ground:

 d1d2 d 4h 2 4h1h2
rmax   d 
d1  d 2 2  

Designers use: r  0.6rmax

r in feet, d in mile , and f in GHz.
 21
Antennas Over A Spherical Earth
 57.3  kR 
13
Good approximation for flat earth: the angle of observation degrees
h d
Line of sight (LOS)

R
Radius of earth
R  6378 km

 R  h  R 2  2 Rh  3.57 h  m   km 
2
For R  h, R  d , d 
For h  100 m, d  35.7 km
For a transmitter and a receiver, d  3.57  h1  m   h2  m    km 
 

Effective Earth Radius 22

The air density decreases as the height

increases.

At greater heights the less dense atmosphere

results in a smaller index of refraction.

The rays are reflected smoothly through a

curved path.
Collin: Antennas and Propagation

The curved path makes line-of-sight longer.

 Effective Earth Radius 23

To take into account of the effect of ray

curvature, the earth is replacing with an earth
having a larger radius and the rays propagate
along straight lines.

Effective earth radius: 4

Re  R
3
Then, we have the line of sight

d  4.12  h1  m   h2  m    km 
 
In a different unit,

d   2h1  ft.  2h2  ft.   mile 

 

24
Ionospheric Propagation
In the Earth’s upper atmospheres, there exist layers of ionized
gases called ionosphere. It consists of free electrons and
positive ions.
The electron and ion densities in the individual ionized layers
are essentially equal. Ionized gases with equal electron and
ion densities are called plasmas.

The ionosphere plays an important role in the propagation of

electromagnetic waves and affect telecommunications.

Effective permittivity:  p   0 1   p     0 1  f p f 
2 2 2 2

Ne 2
Plasma angular frequency:  p  2 f p 
m 0
N is the number of electrons per unit volume (cubic meter),
and e and m are, respectively, the electronic charge and mass.
 25
Ionospheric Propagation
Wave propagation constant:

f f  1
2
    j    2 p     0  p

When f  f p ,   
Waves attenuate without propagation.

When f  f p ,   j 

Waves propagate without attenuation.

f p  9 N (Hz)

The altitude is from 50 km to 1000 km, N is from 108

to 1012 /m3, fp is from 90 kHz to 9 MHz.

26
Ionospheric Propagation
f p  9 N (Hz)

The density of electrons (how many electrons there are per every cubic
centimeter) is represented by the varying colors.
In the maps above the electron density ranges from 33300 electrons/cm^3 (dark
blue) to 249750 electrons/cm^3 (green) to 552780 electrons/cm^3 (red).
 27
Ionospheric Propagation
f p  9 N (Hz) is derived for normal incidence.

Collin: Antennas and Propagation

   p  0  1  f p2 f 2

For oblique incidence, the total reflection happens at   sin i

Then we have f  f p sec i

It is called the maximum usable frequency (MUF).

The maximum angle is about 60 to 74 degrees.

28
Ionospheric Propagation
Collin: Antennas and Propagation

If the frequency is lower than MUF, the wave is reflected from the ionosphere
and propagates over thousand miles over earth.
If the frequency is higher than MUF, the wave can penetrate the
ionosphere and reach the space.
 29
Attenuation by Rain
CNN on 1/21/2004, Rain in Canberra, Australia, the uplink area to the rover for the
day, caused the signal to be too weak for Spirit (on Mars) to hear the commands.
Collin: Antennas and Propagation
So far we treat the propagation in air
as without attenuation. In fact there
is attenuation due to water and other
gases in air.

Field: e r e j r
a  j   k0 r

 k0  r  j
 0
Power: e2 r
Attenuation: A  2

30
Attenuation by Fog

Collin: Antennas and Propagation

 31
Attenuation by Seawater
  4S/m

Collin: Antennas and Propagation

32
Seawater Geysers Could Replace Traditional 
Antenna Arrays 
Pump-powered antennas could replace metal communications arrays with fountains of
saltwater

Popular Science, 11/2/2010