H

RADJ ATION & PROPAGATIO OJ : W" VES

EFFECfS OF THE ENVIRONMENT
NORMAL
1. REFLECfION OF W" VES
the incident ray, reflected ray, and the normal to til(' point of incidence Mt" in om'
plane,
m!eCI$:l
7~~lf~ V V o.'{S
Mf(C-
-1-;d:
/
1
o
~
REI'LE(."TING SURFACE
both incident & roflectcd waves travel at the same wlodty, but there is .1
red uction in lilt' signcll strength
tho reflected WcWE'S strlkes the ground and bounces hack up to the f(..'(:eiving
antenna. & is seriously attenuated as tl result of !>trikin~~the ground, but this is .1
bonus condition, because the wave also changes the phase by I~O(h~gn,;'t.'s. The
reflected wave cancels some of the dlrl~t wave ('ncrgy.
2. REFRACTION
takes place whcn clectrornegnetic waves PM,"from om' prop,\gClting medium to ,I
medium having adifferent density
till' refraction process bends the wave dueto 111(' di((t'f('lIn~sin th,' density of the
,IiI'.The rt'fl'Mt('(i wavedoes not change phase &therefore will add to the wave
that clrriv(.'s by the direct path.
NORMAL
-- ....--.. -----_._---------_.-.
'( ( ,
3. DIFFRACTION
the behavior of the electromagnetic waves is affected by the presence of small
slits in aconducting plane or sharp edges of obstacle.
HUYGEN'S PRINCIPLE - states that every point on agiven (spherical)
wavefront may beregarded as asource of waves fromwhich further waves are
radiated outward.
4. INTERFERENCE
occurs when two waves that left onesource &traveled by different paths arrive
at apoint.
In the difference between paths 1&l'is linthere is complete cancellation ifthe
ground is aperfect reflector
Ifthe difference between path 2&2'is 1Athere is reinforcement
Q
at VHF and below - interference isnot significant
at UHF and above - interference must bedefinitely taken into account
1"1"'. ~~I~lr
( ) \ 1 c " ",O,IGI1C
(Ytlll t.vtvn &r
";/j t'>(
/
D LAYER: t\"(NJ~ ~\O"" ""*''t:.t ~09,I')~)
exists during daytime only, disappears at night
least important layer from the point of view of HF propagation L~~
reflects some VLF and LF waves & absorbs MF & HF waves to acertain extent
prevents low-freq daytime skip-wave propagation, bu at night thesae low-freq
waves may propagate great distance
used for signals up toseveral megahertz
E LAYER (.t.{){) ell"- W("'J i')I(I~LV\'f~'()
most useful at the sun's noon peak, but disappears at night due to the
recombmation of the ions into molecules
aids MF surface-wave propagation alittle &reflects some HF waves in daytime.
Used at freqs up to about 20MHz
Es LAYER (Sporadic E Layer)
athin layer of very high ionization density
when it does occur, it persists during the night also
does not have an important part in long-distance propagation, but it does
sometimes permit unexpectedly good reception
'1~' , 2.4CI01 \ fS/1FI LAYER ..- _ H"Fe~
( - some HF waves are reflected from it, but most pass through to bereflected from
\ the F21ayer
\, main effect to provide more absorption for HF waves
F2LAYER
/most important reflecting medium for HF radio waves
-combines with the Fl layer at night
available around the full 24 hours
The basic idea of asky wave is to radiate thesignal toward the
ionospheric layers &have it refract and return to earth a
substantial distance away
Some of the signal passes through then layers &out into space,
but enough returns to earth tobepicked up by asensitive ,-
receiver.
Additional distance ispossible when the signal reflects from the
earth &goes back up to the ionosphere layers for another HOP.
These multiple hops are what provide the capability for globe
spanning communications.
MAXIMUM USABLE FREQUENCY (MUF) - the highest frequency that can beused for sky
wave commumunications between two given points on earth.
normal values: 8- 35MHz
~e- .... -t> ec,1'1 (c;n+> C0\\
-
<ZSl, o.F I-"II)~ // J (l~""-+>"'~
.+c.cs .
FADING - the fluctuation in signal strength at areceiver and may berapid or slow, general or
frequency selective
rl 'k' (\0< (,,,~IW'{ - . it is due to interference between the two waves which left the same source but
\J IJ Cr,\,. J ' _ fU~I~) arrived at the destination by different paths.
CD SQ V . ~ c : . d.lv~~'1 f c.."__ ,,-,,, Most likely tooccur at the higher freqs (i.ewave with smaller wavelengths)
"v- i../f.!o. \\ ~ -'0~because the signal received at any instant is the vector sum of all thewaves
\~ -I r"'eC~ived; alternate cancellation & reinforcement will result if there is alength
(
._ _" variation as large as ahalf-wavelength between any two points.
~~ <:><'O",,~,,", ~
0. h'e"'e-o- ~"0I'G.f), -Si<.,,.,, 'l:>:.s.,*""'("G .~. ~("I9~\-%e.. ..... """"~ ~e.- ~1t-'Y'N""VCJ 's;;; ~ ,....0'''''..... ~ .....
~ f"'+. 0-('"' IONOSPHERIC VARIATIONS re-4v...... -re ~,... ..... h
....e+le..o--WOI'> Normal variations - seasonal height &thickness changes
Abnormal variations - due mainly to the fact that the sun is avariable star
* SID's (Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances) / Dellinger Dropouts
- caused by solar flares
- only the sunlit side of the earth is affected
- VLF propagation is actually improved
* Ionospheric Storms - caused by particle emissions from the sun, generally a.
and 13 rays.
- - highest freqs are most affected
'"Sporadic E Layer - when present, this layer has the twin effects of preventing
longdistance HF communications &permitting over-the-horizon VHF communication
waves that travel in straight J ines
depends on line-of-sight conditions, thus space waves are limited in their
propagation by the curvature of the earth
- RADIO HORIZON - about 4/3 as far as the optical horizon, due to the varying density of the
atmosphere, &because of diffraction around the curvature of the earth
or
where: dt = distance from transmitting antenna
ht =height of transmitting antenna above the ground
Visual iiorizon
"
Curl'uture of
the eartli
Rculit hnriron
(Approrimcrtdy '5~~;
beyond the true horiron)
[ A person 6fttall standing on ashoreline would see the horizon at adistance of 3mi. off shore,
hence the 3-milelimit that borders every country].
Ex. A horizontally polarized antenna is placed on top of a6\t_Sft tower. The distance to the radio
horizon is 35mi. . A receiving antenna is 53mi. from the transmitter would need to beraised to
anelevation of 162ftto "see" the direct path from the xmtng antenna.
The radio horizon ciTffersslightly in that radio waves have aslight bending &fill-ineffect behind
tall, obstructing objects. A receiving antenna immediately behind atall hill may receive no signal
fromastation, but ifit is moved farther from the station, the signal strength increases, this void
condition iscalled the SHADOW EFFECT.
On theother hand, any object large enough to cast aradio shadow will, if it is agood conductor,
cause back reflections also, thus, in areas in front of it,aform of interference known as
"GHOSTING" may beobserved on the screen on aTV receiver.
SUPERREFRALTION / DUCTING :
- under certain atmospheric conditions alayer of warm air may betrapped above cooler
ground, often over the surface of water, the result is that the refractive index will decreases far
morerapidly with higher than is usual, and this causes complete bending down of microwave
freqs to take place. Microwaves are thus continuously refracted in the duct &reflected by the
ground. Main requirement for formation of atmospheric ducts is the so called temperature
inversion.
lVCll'fll l\ir lHfLSs
S. TROPHOSHERIC SCAITER PROPAGATION
also known as TROPOSCA ITER or FORWARD SCATIER PROPAGATION
ameans of beyond-the-horizon propagation for UHF signals
if two directional antennas are pointed so that their beams intersect midway
between them, above the horizon, at about lSkm. Or 6.5mi. from the ground,
they Interact in amanner similar to ducting
high transmitting power are needed since the actual proportion of forward
scatter to signals incident on the scatter volume isvery tiny, between -60 dB &-
90 dB
Tropospheric scattering is asytem of xmsn that falls in the same category as
magnetism, gravity, &light energy. Wecan explain what happens in its
presence, we can predict &control its behavior to makeit work for us, but no one
really knows what it is
Tropospheric scatter propagation is subject totwo forms of fading
a) Rayleigh fading - caused by multi path propagation
- fast occurs several times per minute, with max signal strength variations
inexcess of 2O-dB
b) fading caused by variation in atmospheric conditions along the path
Toobtain best results antennas are elevated and then directed down toward the horizon. Also
because of fading problems, diversity systems (space diversity, frequency diversity, quadruple
diversity) are employed
" .
6. EXTRATERRESTRIAL COMM/ TRANSIONOSPHERIC SPACE-WAVE PROPAGTION
/ SATELLITE WAVES
involves the useof various satellite relays
frequencies used are well above normal critical frequencies to minimize their
refraction, &beable to propagate through the ionosphere
refractions becomes insignificant at freqs above 100MHz, and atmospheric
absorption is negligible up to about 14GHz
FARADAY EFFECT - problems encountered in transionospheric propagation
- causes the polarization of the radio waves torotate as itpasses through
the ionosphere &isacomplex process involving the presence of ionized
particles &the earth's magnetic field
- solution: use anantenna with circular polarization
satellite wave systems use freqs which are much higher than the critical freq.
High enough to penetrate the ionosphere without refracting back to the
transmitter.
Major problem: high path loss caused by the large distances. The
electromagnetic energy spreads Withdistance &relatively little reaches the
receiver.
PREPARED BY:ENGR. C. TUARIZO
ECE FACULTY,