RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION

LAYERS USED
POWER DENSITY
ELECTRIC FIELD INTENSITY

Ground (Surface) Waves

hug the contour of the earth and are affected by the

terrain
antenna must be vertically polarized
antenna must project the signal at a very small
radiation angle so that the energy is not transmitted
toward the atmosphere instead along the ground

/4

Typical Ground Constant

TERRAIN TYPE

DIELECTRIC
CONSTANT

CONDUCTIVITY
11

Sea water

81

4.5 x 10

Fresh water

80

10 x 10

14

Pastoral low hills, rich soil

20

10 x 10

14

Pastoral medium hills,

forestation
Rocky soil

13

5 x 10

12

2 x10

Cities & industrial areas

1x 10-14

14

-14

SOMMERFELD ANALYSIS on GWP

HT

HR
RX

TX
d

E=

AE1
d

Where:
E - Ground Wave Field Strength
A = factor affecting ground conductivity
d - Distance from transmitting antenna
E1 = electric field intensity at a unity distance

Problem
8. A police radio transmitter operating at a frequency of 1690 kHz
is required to provide a ground-wave having a field strength of at

least 0.5 mV/m at a distance of 10 miles. The transmitter antenna

is expected to have an efficiency of 50 %, thus, it radiates 50 % of
the energy actually delivered to it and produces a radiated field
that is proportional to the cosine of the angle of elevation. The
ground is such that a conductivity of 5 x 10 -14 emu and dielectric

constant of 15 can be expected resulting to a ground constant of 0.15.

Determine the transmitter power required.

64.24 watts

Direct (Space) Waves

Direct or space wave travel in a straight line from

transmitting antenna to receiving antenna

is referred to as line-of-sight propagation
TV and FM radio broadcasts
are useful primarily only in VHF and UHF bands.
VHF and UHF signals are easily reflected by

buildings, hills, and even airplanes, so some of your

signal reach the other station by a direct path and
some may be reflected

Problem
10. In a VHF mobile radio system, the base station transmits
100 watts at 150 MHz, and the antenna is 20 m above ground.
The transmitting antenna is /2 dipole for which the gain is 1.64.

Calculate the field strength at a receiving antenna of height 2 m

11 V/m

at a distance of 40 km.

11. Using the data in no. 1, find the a) path difference of the

radiated wave and b) their phase difference.

2 mm ; 6.28 x10 -3 rad/s

Direct (Space) Waves

Path Distance

d1

d2

Direct (Space) Waves

Path Distance

d1

d2

Direct (Space) Waves

Path Distance

D = d1 + d2
D=

2 HT +

D = d1 + d2
2 HR

Where:
D path distance, miles
HT height of transmitting antenna, ft
HR height of receiving antenna, ft

D=

17 HT +

17 HR

Where:
D path distance, Km
HT height of transmitting antenna, m
HR height of receiving antenna, m

Problem
9. Calculate the maximum distance at which a receiving
antenna of 200 ft be constructed away from a transmitting
antenna of 400ft considering line-of-sight condition with
k=4/3.

48.28 mi

Direct and Ground Reflected Waves

Propagation Over Plane Earth
Direct Path

ER
HT

Reflected Path

HR

CHARACTERISTICS:

The received power is a function of the frequency of the radiated field.

The received power is a function of the (transmit and receive) antenna heights.
This model is valid for relatively low antenna elevations and frequencies of 50
MHz and above
This model assumes a plane earth and does not take into account the curvature
of the earth

Tropospheric Propagations
Propagation Over Plane Earth

ER = Ed
Where:
ER - Resulting Field Strength ; v/m
Ed - Direct Ray Field strength; v/m
HT - Height of transmitting antenna ; m
HR - Height of receiving antenna ; m
D - Path distance ; m

4 Ht Hr

30 G Pt
Ed =

Tropospheric Propagations
TROPOSPHERE

is the region of the earth's atmosphere immediately

adjacent to the earth surface

Tropospheric scatter is the method of propagating
microwave energy beyond LOS or over the horizon
takes advantage of the refraction and reflection
phenomena
causes signals to return to Earth beyond the
geometric horizon, and allows you to contact stations
that are farther away than would otherwise be
possible

Tropospheric Propagations
TROPOSPHERE

This radio path horizon is generally about 15% farther

away than the visible horizon.

Tropospheric Propagations
Ducting-Super refractions

Radio signals can be trapped in the troposphere,

traveling a longer distance than normal before

coming back to the Earth's surface
The area between the Earth and the warm air mass is
known as a duct
Ducts usually form over water, but they can also form
over land
Tropospheric ducting is the most common type of
enhanced propagation at UHF

Tropospheric Ducting

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

SKY WAVE

is aimed not at the intended receiver but at the sky

takes advantage of the ionosphere that surrounds the

earth to provide worldwide communications

radiate signal toward ionosphere and have it refract
and return to earth
Some of the signal passes through the layers of the
ionosphere and out into space, but enough returns to
earth to be picked up by a sensitive receiver

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

SKY WAVE
Refracted
wave
Transmitted
wave

Reflected
wave

Skip distance

Ionosphere

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

IONOSPHERE

is the layer of partially ionized gas that is above the

oxygen-rich layer we live

absorbs large quantities of radiant energy from the
sun, becoming heated and ionized

The ionization is caused by ultraviolet radiation's from the sun

The amount of ionization depends on many factors:

amount of sunlight, seasons of the year, sunspot,

weather conditions and local terrain
If the wave is bent enough, it returns to Earth
If the wave is not bent enough, it travels off into space

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

IONOSPHERE

The ionosphere consist of a series of layers

varying ion density at different height (D, E, F1 & F2 layers)

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

IONOSPHERE

Layer D:

30 to 60 Miles (50 - 95 Km) above the earth's surface

Exist during daytime only and it ceases to exist after sundown
Least important layer from the point of view of HF
propagations
Reflects some VLF and LF waves and
Absorb MF and HF waves to a certain extent

LAYER E:
60

to 80 miles (95 - 130 Km) above the earth's surface

Also a day light phenomenon (disappear at night)
This layer depend on the suns ultraviolet radiation
The main effect of the E layer are to aid MF wave a little
and to reflect HF waves in daytime

SPORADIC E - Is a thin layer of very high ionization density,

sometimes making an appearance with the E-layer

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

IONOSPHERE

Layer F:

F1 100 to 155 miles (160 - 250 Km)

Provide more absorption for HF waves but some are reflected
from it
F2 155 to 250 miles (250 -400 Km)
Most important reflecting medium for HF radio waves
Most HF waves pass through to F2 where they are refracted
back to Earth
F1 and F2 are separate during daylights and merge after
sunset/nighttime (F-layer)
Most highly ionized, and hence there is some chance for the
ionization to remain at night
Higher ion density means, the more refraction (bending)

Effects of Ionospheric Density on Radio waves

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

Relative Permittivity( R)

R =

1-

N qe2

o m 2

Where:

R - Relative Permittivity (dielectric constant of the ionized layer)

N - Electron Density ; m -3
m - Electron Mass ; 9.11 x 10 -31 Kg
qe - Electron Charge ; 1.6 x 10 -19 C
- Angular frequency ; rad/sec
o - Permittivity of Free Space

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

Plasma Frequency (Fp)
Angular velocity of the wave can have a value that makes R
equal to zero, this is the plasma angular frequency p

p =

FP = 9

N qe2

o m

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

Critical Frequency (FC)

A wave of low frequency that is sent vertically toward

the ionosphere will be reflected back to the

transmitter
The highest frequency wave that will be reflected from
a given layer when the wave is at vertical incidence
Is a plasma frequency from a given layer
The equipment used to measure the virtual height of
the ionosphere is called an ionosonde

FC = 9

Nmax

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF)

The critical frequency for the layer is an indication of

the highest frequency, called MUF

MUF is the highest frequency that will be reflected
from a given layer and return to earth at a given
angle of radiation
The frequency at which communication just starts to
fail is known as the Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF)

MUF = FC Sec i

Ionospheric Propagations - Sky Waves

Optimum Working Frequency (OWF)

Because of the general instability of the ionosphere,

the optimum working frequency is used instead.

The highest frequency that can be used for sky wave
propagations between two points on the earth

OWF = 0.85 MUF

Frequency versus Refraction and Distance

Incidence angles of Radio Waves

Effect of Frequency on the Critical Angle

Problem
12. Two points on earth 1500km apart are to
communicate by means of HF. Given that this is to
be a single hop transmission, the critical frequency
at that time is 6 MHz and the conditions are
idealized. Calculate the maximum usable frequency
if the height of the ionosphere is 350 km.
14.188 MHz

Problem
13. A wave travelling in free space undergoes refraction
after it enters a denser region such that the original
25 angle of incidence at the boundary of the two
media is changed to 20. What is the velocity of the
EM wave in the denser medium?

2.43 x 10 8 m/s

Problem
14. Calculate the transmission path distance for an
ionospheric transmission that utilizes a layer of
virtual height 200 km. The angle of elevation of the
antenna beam is 20.
d = 2h / tan

d = 2R

(
2

sin -1 (

R
R+h

1100 km

cos )

966 km

TERMS
If the radiated energy comes from another radio
transmitter, then it is considered radio-frequency
interference (RFI)
If the energy comes from else where, then it is
electromagnetic interference (EMI)
Isothermal region Temperature in the stratosphere is
believed to be fairly constant and is not subject to
temperature changes or inversions and will not cause
significant refractions

TERMS
Sunspots are relatively cool areas that appear as dark
blemishes on the face of the sun. They are formed
when magnetic field lines just below the sun's surface
are twisted and poke though the solar photosphere.
Solar flares emit high-speed particles which cause
auroras, known in the northern hemisphere as
Northern Lights. From the ground auroras appear as
shimmering curtains of red and green light in the sky.