Unit-V

Surface Wave Propagation-Modes of Wave Propagation-Surface Wave Propagation

and Surface Wave Tilt-Plane Earth Reflection, Reflection and Refraction of Waves-
Field Strength due to Ground Wave-Multi-Hop Transmission. Tropospheric and
Space Wave Propagation
 Types of Waves

Ionosphere
(80 - 720 km)
Sky wave
Mesosphere
(50 - 80 km)

Space wave Stratosphere

(12 - 50 km)
Ground wave
Troposphere
(0 - 12 km)
Earth
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 Radio Frequency Bands

Classification Band Initials Frequency Range Characteristics

Extremely low ELF < 300 Hz
Infra low ILF 300 Hz - 3 kHz Ground wave
Very low VLF 3 kHz - 30 kHz
Low LF 30 kHz - 300 kHz
Medium MF 300 kHz - 3 MHz Ground/Sky wave
High HF 3 MHz - 30 MHz Sky wave
Very high VHF 30 MHz - 300 MHz
Ultra high UHF 300 MHz - 3 GHz
Super high SHF 3 GHz - 30 GHz Space wave
Extremely high EHF 30 GHz - 300 GHz
Tremendously high THF 300 GHz - 3000 GHz

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 Speed, Wavelength, Frequency

Light speed = Wavelength x Frequency

= 3 x 108 m/s = 300,000 km/s

System Frequency Wavelength

AC current 60 Hz 5,000 km
FM radio 100 MHz 3m
Cellular 800 MHz 37.5 cm
Ka band satellite 20 GHz 15 mm
Ultraviolet light 1015 Hz 10-7 m

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Propagation Mechanisms

• Reflection occurs when a radio wave bounces off an object or a surface of a different medium
• Propagation wave impinges on an object which is large as compared to wavelength
- e.g., the surface of the Earth, buildings, walls, etc.
• Refraction occurs when radio waves pass from a medium of one to another of different density

• Diffraction is the phenomenon whereby radio waves traveling in straight paths “bend” around
an obstacle
• Radio path between transmitter and receiver obstructed by surface with sharp irregular edges
• Waves bend around the obstacle, even when LOS (line of sight) does not exist
• Scattering
• Objects smaller than the wavelength of the propagation wave
- e.g. foliage, street signs, lamp posts
 Radio Propagation Effects

Building

Direct Signal

hb Reflected Signal
Diffracted
Signal hm

d
Transmitter Receiver

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Modes of Wave Propagation
• Radio wave propagation can be explained as the radio waves which
propagate from one point to another or into various parts of the
atmosphere.
• Depending upon the frequencies, these waves propagation can be
classified as:
1. Ground waves propagation or surface wave propagation
2. Space propagation or tropospheric wave propagation
3. Sky wave propagation or Ionospheric propagation
Types of Wave Propagation
• The electromagnetic waves or radio waves propagation, passing through the environment of the
earth depend not only on the properties of themselves but also on the properties of the
environment. There are different paths of propagation by which the transmitted waves can reach
the receiver. All these modes depend on the frequency of operation, the distance between
transmitter and receiver etc…
• The waves that propagate near the earth’s surface are called GROUND WAVES. This type of
propagation is possible when the transmitting and receiving antenna both are closed to the
earth’s surface.
• The ground waves which propagate to the receiving antenna through the reflection from the
earth’s surface are called Ground Reflected waves or Surface waves.

• The ground waves which travel without any reflection are called Direct waves or Space waves.
• The waves which reach the receiving antenna due to scattering and reflection by the ionization in
the upper atmosphere are called Sky waves.
• The waves which are reflected or scattered in the troposphere before reaching antenna are called
troposphere waves.
• Duct wave propagation
Ground Wave Propagation or Surface wave propagation
• The propagation of electromagnetic waves near the surface of the earth.. We can
divide the ground wave into three components: the surface wave, for which the
earth's surface serves as a wave conductor; the direct wave, which is the straightest
and the shortest propagation distance between the transmitter and receiver; and the
earth reflected wave, in which the wave first hits the earth surface and is then
reflected towards the receiver.

Fig. 3.1 Ground waves can be direct, be ground reflected, or follow the surface.
• A ground wave travels along the surface of the earth. Ground wave signal is
limited to only a few kilometers. These waves are vertically polarized. So,
vertical antennas are useful for these waves. If a horizontally polarized wave
is propagated as a ground wave, due to the conductivity of the earth, the
electric field of the wave gets short-circuited. When the wave is in contact
with the earth, it induces charges in the earth and constitute a current.
• As the ground wave travels away from the transmitting antenna it gets
attenuated. To minimize this loss the transmission path must be over the
ground with high conductivity. With respect to this condition, sea water
should be the best conductor but it was observed that large storage of water
in ponds, sandy or rocky soil shows maximum losses.
• The maximum range of ground wave propagation not only depends on the
frequency but also on the power of the transmitter. As ground waves pass
over the surface of the earth they are also called the Surface wave.
Surface wave propagation
• A wave is said to be ground wave or surface wave when it propagates from
transmitter to receiver by gliding over the surface of the earth. This wave
exists when,
• both transmitting and receiving antennas are close to the earth and
• the antennas are vertically polarized.
Factors affecting ground wave propagation
• Surface irregularities
• Operating frequencies
• Permittivity and conductivity
• Wave tilting
• The operating frequency range in the case of ground wave propagation
usually lies in the range from kHz to a few MHz (generally up to 2 MHz).
• GROUND WAVE FIELD STRENGTH
• According to Somerfield analysis, the ground wave f ield strength for f
lat earth, is given by

• where E = f ield strength at a point, V / m

• E0 =field strength of the wave at a unit distance from the transmitting antenna, neglecting earth’s
losses (V ¤ m)
• A = factor of the ground losses
• d = distance of the point from Transmitting antenna

E0 depends on
1. Power radiated by the transmitting antenna.
2. Directivity of the antenna in vertical and horizontal planes.
• The factor, A depends on
• 1. Conductivity, 𝜎 mho/m
• 2. Permittivity of the earth, 𝜀𝑟
• 3. Frequency of the wave, f
• 4. Distance from the transmitter, d.
• This is found from the knowledge of numerical distance, p and phase
constant, b. For vertical polarisation, these are given by

The factor, A can be also calculated approximately from the following

expression:
GROUND WAVE FIELD STRENGTH BY MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS
• The f ield strength at a distance, d is given by

• where ht = effective height of transmitting antenna, m

• h0 = characteristics impedance of free space = 120 p W
• I = antenna current, A
• d = distance from transmitter, m
• l = wavelength, m
• When a receiving antenna of height, hr is placed at a distance of d
the receivedsignal is given by
The salient features of ground wave propagation
1. Ground wave propagates by gliding over the surface of the earth.
2. It exists for vertically polarised antennas.
3. It exists for antennas close to the earth.
4. It is suitable for VLF, LF and MF communications.
5. It can be used even at 15 kHz and upto 2 MHz.
6. Ground wave f ield strength is
7. The ground wave f ield strength varies with characteristics of the earth.
8. Ground waves require relatively high transmitter power.
9. Ground wave propagation losses vary considerably with the type of earth.
10. Ground waves are not affected by the changes in atmospheric conditions.
11. Ground waves can be used to communicate between any two points on the
globe if there is suff icient transmitter power.
12. It can be used for radio navigation, for ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore
communication and maritime mobile communications.
• REFLECTION OF RADIO WAVES BY THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH
• If an EM wave is incident on the earth, it is reflected back. The angle of reflection is equal to the
angle of incidence. The reflection coefficient is the ratio of the reflected wave to the incident
wave. That is,
𝜌 = 𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒/𝐼𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒
• The field strength near the earth is the vectorial sum of the incident and reflected fields.
• The ref lection coefficient, 𝜌 depends on
1. Dielectric constant, 𝜀𝑟
2. Conductivity of the earth, σ
3. Frequency of the wave
4. Polarisation of the wave
5. Angle of incidence of the wave.
The earth is assumed to be
• ROUGHNESS OF EARTH
• Ref lections of EM waves vary with the nature of the earth. Earth is
classified as rough and smooth.
• REFLECTION FACTORS OF EARTH
• Earth is neither a good conductor nor a good dielectric. It is a partially
conducting dielectric medium and hence its dielectric constant can be
considered to be complex. That is,

• Keeping this in mind, the ref lection coefficient for horizontal

polarisation is given by:
WAVE TILT OF THE GROUND WAVE
• Salient features of wave tilt
• 1. Wave tilt occurs at the surface of the earth.
• 2. The tilt depends on conductivity and permittivity of the earth.
• 3. It causes power dissipation.
• 4. Due to tilt, there exists both horizontal and vertical components of the
electric field.
• 5. These two components are not in phase.
• 6. The wave tilt changes the original vertically polarised wave into
elliptically polarised wave.
• 7. The resultant typical electric field due to wave tilt is shown in Fig. 9.6.
Space-Wave Propagation
• The EM wave that propagates from the transmitter to the receiver in the earth’s
troposphere is called space wave
• A Space Wave can be classified as a direct wave (line-of-sight).
• Because of diffraction, a direct space wave can travel ~ 4/3 greater than line-of-sight. This
distance is known as the radio horizonand can be approximated as:
• 𝒅≅𝟐𝒉𝒕+𝟐𝒉𝒓
• Where:
• d = radio horizon (mi)
• ht= transmitting antenna height (ft)
• hr= receiving antenna height (ft)
• When we are dealing with EM waves of frequency between 30 MHz to 300 MHz, then
space wave propagation is useful.
• Usually, it permits the transmission of signals having a frequency greater than 30
MHz.
SPACE WAVE OR TROPOSPHERIC WAVE PROPAGATION
• When operating in space wave propagation mode, the wave reaches the receiving
antenna directly from the transmitter or after reflection from troposphere which is
present at about 16km above the earth surface. Hence space wave mode consists
of two components .i.e. direct wave and indirect wave.
• Though these components are transmitted at the same time with the same phase
they may reach within the phase or out of phase with each other at the receiver end
depending on the different path lengths. Thus, at the receiver side signal strength
is the vector sum of strengths of direct and indirect waves.

• The space wave field strength is affected by the following:

• 1. Curvature of the earth.
• 2. Earth’s imperfections and roughness.
• 3. Hills, tall buildings and other obstacles.
• 4. Height above the earth.
• 5. Transition between ground and space wave.
• 6. Polarisation of the waves.
LINE OF SIGHT (LOS)
It is defined as the distance that is covered
by a direct space wave from the transmitting
antenna to the receiving antenna.
It depends on:
1. Height of the receiving antenna.
2. Height of the transmitting antenna.
3. Effective earth’s radius factor, K.
FIELD STRENGTH DUE TO SPACE WAVE
• The field strength due to space wave,

• where
• E0 =field strength due to direct ray at unit distance. This depends on directivity of transmitting
antenna and transmitter power.
at one mile for half- wave transmitting
• antenna.
• ht = height of the transmitting antenna
• hr = height of the receiving antenna
• d = distance between the two antennas.
• CONSIDERATIONS IN SPACE WAVE PROPAGATION
• The space wave field strength is affected by the following:
• 1. Curvature of the earth.
• 2. Earth’s imperfections and roughness.
• 3. Hills, tall buildings and other obstacles.
• 4. Height above the earth.
• 5. Transition between ground and space wave.
• 6. Polarisation of the waves.
ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS IN SPACE WAVE
PROPAGATION
• The atmosphere consists of gas molecules and water vapour. This
causes the dielectric constant to be slightly greater than unity. The
density of air and water vapour vary with height. As a result, the
dielectric constant and hence refractive index of air depends on the
height. Dielectric constant decreases with height. The variation of
refractive index with height gives rise to different phenomena like
refraction, ref lection, scattering, duct propagation and fading.
Troposcatter Propagation
• The lowest part of the earth’s atmosphere is called
the troposphere. Typically, the troposphere extends
from the surface of the earth to an altitude of
approximately 9 km at the poles and 17 km at the
equator. The earth’s weather system is confined to
the troposphere and the fluctuations in weather
parameters like temperature, pressure and humidity
cause the refractive index of the air in this layer to
vary from one point to another. Scattering of waves
takes place due to considerable variation of
refractive index.
• It is in this context that the troposphere assumes a
vital role in the propagation of radio waves at VHF
(30-300 MHz) and UHF (300- 3000 MHz)
frequencies.
Modified refractive index (M )
• Modified refractive index (M ) Modified refractive index in the
troposphere is defined as the sum of the refractive indices at a given
height above the mean geometrical surface and the ratio of the
height to the mean geometrical radius. Mathematically, it is defined
as

• where
• n = refractive index
• h = height above ground
• a = radius of earth = 6.37x10^6 m
DUCT PROPAGATION
• Duct propagation is phenomenon of propagation making use of the atmospheric
duct region. The duct region exits between two levels where the variation of
modified refractive index with height is minimum .
• This phenomena is caused due to temperature inversion.
• Standard atmosphere: temperature decreases with increasing height above earth.
• Temperature inversion layer: temperature increases with increasing height above
earth (till certain distance).
• Temperature inversely propositional to refractive index.
• As we know that warm and cool airs possess variation in the
refractive index. This is due to the variation in their densities.
• So, when such high-frequency wave emitted from the transmitting
antenna in the region of the duct (i.e., cool air) with a low angle of
incidence, then on experiencing lower refractive index from the
region of warm air due to lower density, the wave gets refracted back
to the surface of the earth.
• tthrough duct propagation, these high-frequency signals can be
transmitted up to a distance of 1000 km in the atmosphere.