Lecture 2:

Radio Wave Propagation

Anders Västberg
08-790 44 55
vastberg@kth.se
Maxwell's Equations
D f
B 0
B
E
t
D
H Jf
t
Maxwell's Equations
• Electrical field lines may either
start and end on charges, or are
continuous
• Magnetic field lines are
continuous
• An electric field is produced by a
time-varying magnetic field
• A magnetic field is produced by a
time-varying electric field or by a
current
 Radiation
Uniform motion

Reversing direction

Direction change

Osscillating periodic
motion

Only accelerating charges produce

radiation

[Saunders, 1999]
 Propagation Mechanisms
• The higher frequency
– The more radio waves resamble the properties of light
• At lower frequencies
– Electrical properties of obstacles are important (but
we tend to express these in terms of optical
properties)
• If the wave length is of the same order of
magnitude (or larger), diffraction or surface
effects dominate
 Propagation mechanisms
• When the dimension of the object is:
– Very Large compared to the wavelength
• Reflection
– Larger compared to the wavelength
• Diffraction
– Small compared to the wavelength
• Scattering
– Very small compared to the wavelength
• Unaffected
Diffraction

[Saunders, 1999]
 Propagation between two
antennas (not to scale)
Sky Wave

Direct Wave

Ground Reflected
Wave
Ground Wave

No Ground Wave for Frequencies > ~2 MHz

No Ionospheric Wave for Frequencies > ~30 Mhz
 Free Space Propagation

Pt
Sr 
Ae

r 4r 2
Pt
Pt Ae
Pr  S r Ae 
4r 2
 Knife edge loss
L dB

25

20

15
Out[12]=

10

v
4 2 2 4
 Effective Earth Radius

Re=8500 km=4/3R0

[Slimane]
Fresnel Zones