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Module 05

Radio Wave Propagation

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Fig. 1: Earths atmosphere

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Fig. 2: Radio Frequencies and their primary mode of propagation

Band Frequency Wavelength Propagation via

Extremely
10,000-
ELF Low 330 Hz
100,000 km
Frequency
Super Low 10,000-
SLF 30300 Hz
Frequency 1,000 km
Ultra Low 1,000-
ULF 0.33 kHz
Frequency 100 km
Very Low Guided between the earth and
VLF 330 kHz 10010 km
Frequency the ionosphere.
Guided between the earth and the D
Low 30
LF 101 km layer of the ionosphere.Surface
Frequency 300kHz
waves.
Surface waves.E, F
Medium 300 layer ionospheric refraction at
MF 1000100 m
Frequency 3000kHz night, when D layer absorption
weakens.
High
E layer ionospheric refraction.
Frequency
HF 330 MHz 10010 m
(Short F1, F2 layer ionospheric refraction.
Wave)
Infrequent E ionospheric (Es)
refraction. Uncommonly F2 layer
ionospheric refraction during high
Very High 30
VHF 101 m sunspot activity up to 50 MHz and
Frequency 300MHz
rarely to 80 MHz. Generally direct
wave. Sometimestropospheric
ducting.
Ultra High 300 Direct wave.
UHF 10010 cm
Frequency 3000MHz Sometimes tropospheric ducting.
Super High
SHF 330 GHz 101 cm Direct wave.
Frequency

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Extremely
30
EHF High 101 mm Direct wave limited by absorption.
300GHz
Frequency

Ground Waves

Fig. 3: Ground waves and Sky waves

Radio waves in the VLF (Very low frequency) band propagate in a ground, or surface wave. The
wave is confined between the surface of the earth and to the ionosphere. The ground wave can
propagate a considerable distance over the earth's surface and in the low frequency and medium
frequency portion of the radio spectrum. Ground wave radio propagation is used to provide
relatively local radio communications coverage, especially by radio broadcast stations that
require to cover a particular locality.
Ground wave radio signal propagation is ideal for relatively short distance propagation on these
frequencies during the daytime. Sky-wave ionospheric propagation is not possible during the day
because of the attenuation of the signals on these frequencies caused by the D region in the
ionosphere. In view of this, radio communications stations need to rely on the ground-wave
propagation to achieve their coverage.
A ground wave radio signal is made up from a number of constituents. If the antennas are in the
line of sight then there will be a direct wave as well as a reflected signal. As the names suggest
the direct signal is one that travels directly between the two antenna and is not affected by the

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locality. There will also be a reflected signal as the transmission will be reflected by a number of
objects including the earth's surface and any hills, or large buildings that may be present.
In addition to this there is surface wave. This tends to follow the curvature of the Earth and
enables coverage to be achieved beyond the horizon. It is the sum of all these components that is
known as the ground wave.
Beyond the horizon the direct and reflected waves are blocked by the curvature of the Earth, and
the signal is purely made up from the diffracted surface wave. It is for this reason that surface
wave is commonly called ground wave propagation.
Space and Surface Wave Propagation

Fig. 4: Sky and space waves

According to Sommerfeld GW can be divided into two parts, a space wave and a surface wave.
Space wave dominates at larger distances above earth, whereas surface wave is stronger to nearer
to earth.

The radio signal spreads out from the transmitter along the surface of the Earth. Instead of just
travelling in a straight line the radio signals tend to follow the curvature of the Earth. This is
because currents are induced in the surface of the earth and this action slows down the wave-
front in this region, causing the wave-front of the radio communications signal to tilt downwards
towards the Earth. With the wave-front tilted in this direction it is able to curve around the Earth
and be received well beyond the horizon.

Space waves are those waves which have very high frequencies. These waves can easily
penetrate through atmosphere from transmitter end to the receiver end. These waves have the
ability to travel to the troposphere after reflecting from the earths surface. These waves can also

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travel directly without reflection to the earths troposphere. This type of propagation is also
known as Tropospherical Propagation.

Tilt of Wave-front due to Ground Losses

Initially the electric field intensity (and hence the displacement current) originated from a
vertical antenna can be considered to be entirely perpendicular to earth. During the passage of
travel it gets weakened due to energy absorption by the earth. Further it travels more energy is
absorbed and weaker it becomes. The energy absorbed is the result of a current flow beneath the
earth surface up to certain depth and the presence of earth resistance. As shown in the figure
below, the wave front starts tilting in the forward direction as it progresses. The magnitude of tilt
will depend upon the conductivity and permittivity of earth. These terms are related by a
parameter x as shown below.

Fig. 5: Tilt of E at the earth surface for different values of x

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The forward tilt of electric field intensity results in a horizontal component of current and hence
of power P sufficient to furnish the power dissipated in earth over which the wave is passing. In
general the components of field intensity parallel and perpendicular to earth will neither be in
phase nor will have equal magnitude and thus field intensity above earth will be elliptically
polarized. As long as the surface supporting the wave is a perfect conductor, the field intensity
and charge distribution shall remain confined to the surface and field intensity will be entirely
vertical. The moment conductivity becomes finite a horizontal component of field intensity
comes into existence resulting in current flow inside the media. More is the deviation more will
be the depth of penetration. Thus this distribution is true for any media having finite
conductivity.

Impact of Imperfect Earth

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Fig. 6: Effect of imperfect earth

Due to finite conductivity, the chief effect occurs at low angles where the space wave is much
reduced from its value over that of a perfectly conducting earth.

Earths Behavior at different Frequencies

1. At broadcast and lower frequencies
Ratio of capacitive reactance of the earth to the earth resistivity (=1/)>>1. Thus
the earth may be regarded as pure resistance.
The attenuation factor is a function of the term (f2/).

2. At high frequency (10 MHz) and above

The impedance represented by the earth is primarily capacitive and attenuation
factor (A) is a function of the term [f/(+1)].
The values of and that govern A of the ground wave are suitably averaged
values of the quantities for a distance below the earths surface. This distance
referred is the depth to which there are ground currents of appreciable amplitudes
and is called depth of penetration.

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The depth of penetration depends on f, , and ranges from a few feet at HF to

100s of feet at broadcast and lower frequencies.
The earths constants are not particularly sensitive to conditions existing at the
actual surface of the ground i.e. rain, etc.

Space Wave Propagation

Space waves are those waves which have very high frequencies. These waves can easily
penetrate through atmosphere from transmitter end to the receiver end. These waves have the
ability to travel to the troposphere after reflecting from the earths surface. These waves can also
travel directly without reflection to the earths troposphere. This type of propagation is also
known as Tropospherical Propagation.

Effects of Imperfect Earth

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Fig. 7: Variation of field strength with distance

It can be observed that the field strength oscillates about the value E0/d, which corresponds to
the strength of the direct ray (often called the free space (FS) wave). For a perfectly conducting
earth maximum amplitude of these oscillations is twice of the free-space value. These maxima
occur at such distances (related to the antenna heights), where DW and RW add in phase. The
minima or nulls have zero amplitude in case of a perfectly conducting earth, and occur at
distances such that DW and RW cancel each other.
1. d > d path lengths of DW and RW always differ by less tan(/ 6), in such cases E fall
rapidly in accordance with the proportionality with distance square.
2. d > d the angle of incidence is so small that reflection takes place with reversal of phase
and no change in amplitude for both polarizations.
3. d > d where d is the distance at which free space and oscillating fields are equal for
perfectly conducting earth.

Effects of curvature of earth

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Fig. 8: DR and RR over curved earth

Due to the curvature of earth:

1. The effective and actual antenna heights shown in the diagram below differ. The quantum
of difference will depend on the separation between Tx and Rx.

Fig. 9: Vertical dipole and its image

2. There is a change in the number and location of maximas and minimas as illustrated in
figure 8.
3. There is reduction in d, beyond which the two waves tend to be out of phase.
4. The wave reflected by the ground diverge thus RW at Rx antenna is weak. This effect is
less when incident angle is moderate or large and more when this angle is small. Near
grazing angle the field strength of RW reduces significantly at receiver by divergence
effect.
5. At large distances, for small incidence angles and DW and RW in phase opposition the
resultant E at Rx is appreciably greater than that if earth were flat.
6. The last two effects of curvature try to neutralize each other.

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Effect of Interference Zone

Fig. 10: Result of diffraction phenomena

This effect is shown in Fig. 10 wherein if receiving antenna falls in shadow zone logically there
should not be any reception. However, in view of diffraction phenomena some signal arrives at
the receiver.

Shadowing effects of hills and buildings

Fig. 11: Shadowing effect and its equivalent

At VHF and above, serious disturbances in space wave propagation are caused by trees,
buildings, hills and mountains. These obstacles cause reflection, diffraction and absorption.
Losses caused by absorption and scattering increase with the increase of frequency until f
exceeds 3 GHz. Beyond this frequency building walls and wood become opaque to the waves. At
higher frequencies the received signal strength is considerably reduced at position on the shadow
side of any hill.

Shadowing effect of hills and building is illustrated. In view of fig. 11(a) the reduction in R2 can
be seen. It is not only the reduction in R2 the obstructive object also scatter the energy.
Therefore, to estimate real impact the analysis is normally carried out by replacing the actual
obstruction by an equivalent knife edge [Fig. 11(b)].

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Absorption by Atmospheric Phenomena

In VHF range rain attenuates the wave partly due to absorption and partly by scattering. This
attenuation is afunction of wavelength, permittivity, drop diameter and drop concentration, and
the losses due to scattering. Serious attenuation is observed at =3cm for heavy rains (not cloud
burst) and at =1 cm for moderate rains. Since attenuation is proportional to mass of water/unit
volume and drop size for cloud and fog are smaller than rain drops, serious attenuation occurs
below =1cm due to clouds and fog. Losses in ice are considerably less than in liquid water.
Attenuation by dry hail storm is less than that due to rain except in mm region where it is
comparable. As water content in even a heavy snow storm is quite small, attenuation by snow is
always small. Due to molecular interaction absorption of energy takes place at certain
wavelengths due to water vapors and gases with peaks noted at = 1.33cm, 1.7mm and 1mm.
Peaks due to absorption by O2 molecules occur at = 5mm and 2.5cm.

Super Refraction
The refractive index n for free space is given by the relation

Where, T is the absolute temperature of air, P is the air pressure in millibars and W is the partial
pressure of water (humidity) in millibars.

The gradient of refractive index n is not always uniform. It is often divergent from mean value
particularly in lower 5 kms of troposphere. Variation becomes important if < h; since ray paths
are dependent on variation of n with height. Variation of n leads to the phenomena such as
reflection, refraction, scattering, fading and ducting. The duct can be assumed to be a waveguide
with leakage.

The actual n is often replaced by a modified index N bearing the relation

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Where, a is the radius of the earth. N accounts for the earths curvature. It is further convenient
to introduce a new parameter called the refractive modulus M.

The gradient of N can be written as

Under certain atmospheric conditions dT/dh and dw/dh may greatly differ from standard values,
particularly when warm dry air passes over passes over a cool sea surface. The air close to water
will be cooled and an increase in temperature with the height will result. Also water vapour
contents will decrease with height much more rapidly than usual. Both of these factors reduce
dM/dh which may become negative over a region close to sea surface and result in what is called
a surface duct.

Under certain other conditions dM/dh may assume negative value a little higher in the
atmosphere making an elevated duct. All conditions which make dN/dh less than the standard
values are called super-standard and improve radio wave propagation. Also the conditions which
make dM/dh greater than the standard values are called sub-standard making the signals below
normal.

Fig. 12: Different type of refraction index profiles

When dM/dh is negative the curvature of rays passing through atmosphere is greater than that of
earth. As a result, energy originated from antenna and initially directed approximately parallel to
the earth surface, tends to be trapped and propagates around the curvature of earth in a series of
hop. dM/dh=0.036 units/ft for standard atmosphere. Normally at quite high altitudes n is not a
function of height, dM/dh = 0.048 units/ft. Effect of different profiles on wave propagation is
shown in figure 13.

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Fig. 13: Effect of variation of n on wave propagation

Fig. 14: Super Refraction

Super refraction happens when the downward bending of electromagnetic waves is stronger than
normal. It occurs when temperature increases with height (inversion). Ducting (trapping) is
exceptional super refraction when the radius of curvature for the wave becomes smaller than
Earths and the radar waves are trapped in a layer of the atmosphere. Ducting increases the radar
detection range, but it also increases ground clutter.

Scattering Phenomena

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Fig. 15: Illustration of the scattering process

Reception far beyond optical horizon in VHF and UHF range is possible due to scatter
propagation. Both troposphere and ionosphere are in continual state of turbulence. This gives rise
to local variation in nof the atmosphere. Waves passing through such turbulent region get
scattered. When is large compared to the size of the turbulent eddies, waves scatter in all the
directions. When is small compared to these irregularities then most of the scattering takes
place within a narrow cone surrounding the forward direction of propagation of the incident
radiation. To receive scattered signal at a point well beyond horizon Txg and Rxg antennas must
be of high gain. Also these must be so oriented that their beams overlap in region where forward
scattering is taking place. The scattering angle should also be as small as possible. This process
is shown in fig. 15. Since scattering process is of random nature, scattered signals continuously
fluctuate in amplitude and phase over a wide range. The scattering is of significant practical
utility in the following regions:
500 MHz onwards with troposphere as the scattering medium:
It is called tropospheric scattering. Depending upon the bandwidth of transmitter its maximum rage
liesbetween 300 to 600 km.
30 to 50 MHz with ionosphere as medium:
It is called ionospheric scattering and mainly occurs in Eregion with maximum range of about 2000 km.
The level of scattered signals in this case is much small, some 10 to 20 dB below the free space signal
for the same distance.

Tropospheric Propagation
Tropospheric propagation refers to radio wave propagation in the troposphere.It extends to about
9 km above mean sea level at the poles and to about 17 km at the equator. In the troposphere,
temperature decreases with height.Radio wave propagation is affected by the atmosphere and the
environment through which the waves travel.

In the troposphere radio waves may be:

Attenuated by precipitation and gasses.
Refracted by changes in atmospheric refractive index.
Scattered from refractive index fluctuations.
Reflected from obstacles.
Diffracted by obstacles.

Starting point is an isotropic radiator, radiates equally in all directions. Power density at distance
d (metres) from the antenna is:

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Where, PT is the transmitted power. The power available from a receiving antenna located at a
point d metres from the transmitting antenna will be:

Where, AR is the antenna aperture. An antenna with gain, G, relative to an isotropic antenna has
aperture, A, given by:

If the transmitter antenna has gain GT, then the power at a distance d will be

In case of involvement of scattering process the received power is reduced by an attenuation

factor F.

Where, is the effective scattering cross section, v is the scattering volume and is the
scattering angle.
There are mainly two interpretations for the availability of strong signals which are termed as
turbulent scattering theory and layer reflection theory.
1. Turbulent Scattering Theory
According to this theory there is a turbulent variation of refractive index n with height.
Eg: twinkling of stars, random erratic appearance of exhaust gases left by aircraft
engines.
2. Layer Reflection Theory
In this theory it is presumed that there are a large number of randomly distributed layers
with different refractive indices. These layers result in scattering of part of the transmitted
energy towards the earth.

Fading

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Fig. 16: Fading Phenomena

The tropospheric signals often suffer from fading which is a phenomenon of reduction of signals
due to variation in refractive index. This variation is attributed to sudden changes in
temperature, pressure and humidity.

Fading normally is of Rayleigh nature. It can be classified in many ways. It can be fast or slow,
single path or multi path and short term or long term. For fast or multi-path fading, duration is
about 0.01 sec. For long term fading, average variation of signal is of the order of 10 dB.
Summer signals are 10 dB stronger than winter signals. Also, the morning and evening signals
are nearly 5 dB more than afternoon signals.

The fading phenomena may occasionally result in sudden disruption of communication. To avoid
the same diversity techniques are applied. These include (two or four fold) space, frequency,
time, modulation, and polarization diversity.

Note: For numerical from module 5 refer class notes.

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