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Introduction to Radiowave

Propagation
Dr Costas Constantinou
School of Electronic, Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Birmingham
W: www.eee.bham.ac.uk/ConstantinouCC/
E: c.constantinou@bham.ac.uk
Introduction
For an overview, see Chapters 1 4 of L.W. Barclay
(Ed.), Propagation of Radiowaves, 2
nd
Ed., London:
The IEE, 2003
The main textbook supporting these lectures is: R.E.
Collin, Antennas and Radiowave Propagation, New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1985
Introduction (cont.)
Simple free-space propagation occurs only rarely
For most radio links we need to study the influence
of the presence of the earth, buildings, vegetation,
the atmosphere, hydrometeors and the ionosphere
In this lectures we will concentrate on simple
terrestrial propagation models only
Radio Spectrum
Symbol Frequency range Wavelength, Comments
ELF < 300 Hz > 1000 km Earth-ionosphere waveguide
propagation
ULF 300 Hz 3 kHz 1000 100 km
VLF 3 kHz 30 kHz 100 10 km
LF 30 300 kHz 10 1 km Ground wave propagation
MF 300 kHz 3 MHz 1 km 100 m
HF 3 30 MHz 100 10 m Ionospheric sky-wave propagation
VHF 30 300 MHz 10 1 m Space waves, scattering by objects
similarly sized to, or bigger than, a free-
space wavelength, increasingly affected
by tropospheric phenomena
UHF 300 MHz 3 GHz 1 m 100 mm
SHF 3 30 GHz 100 10 mm
EHF 30 300 GHz 10 1 mm
8 1
; 3 10 ms c f c

= =
Electromagnetic waves
Spherical waves
Intensity (time-average)
Conservation of energy; the inverse square law
( )
-
= = + H E S

2
1
2
Wm
Electromagnetic waves
Conservation of energy; the inverse square law
Energy cannot flow perpendicularly to, but flows along
light rays
( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
( )
2
d transmitte
2
steradians of sector angular an in d transmitte
2
2 2 1 1
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
2
4
1 1
2 1
r
P
r l
P
r r
P A A P
r
r
A
A
l
A A
t
= +
= +
+
= + = + = = =
+
+
r
r
r E r
r r
r
r

Free-space propagation
Transmitted power
EIPR (equivalent isotropically radiated power)
Power density at receiver

Received power

Friis power transmission formula
tx
P
tx tx
P G
2
tx tx
rx
4 R
P G
t
= S

t 4
;
4
2
rx
rx rx
2
tx tx
rx
G A A
R
P G
P
e e
= =
2
rx tx
tx
rx
4
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
R
G G
P
P
t

Tx Rx
R
Free-space propagation (cont.)
Taking logarithms gives



where is the free-space path loss, measured in decibels





Maths reminder
|
.
|

\
|
+ =

t R
G G P P
4
log 20 log 10 log 10 log 10 log 10
10 rx 10 tx 10 tx 10 rx 10
( ) c b c b
a a a
log log log + =
( ) , log log b c b
a
c
a
=
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) dB dBi dBi dBW dBW
0 rx tx tx rx
L G G P P + =
0
L
( ) dB
4
log 20
10 0
|
.
|

\
|
=

t R
L
( )
km
d f L
10 MHz 10 0
log 20 log 20 4 . 32 dB + + =
( ) ,
log
log
log
a
b
b
c
c
a
=
Basic calculations
Example: Two vertical dipoles, each with gain 2dBi, separated
in free space by 100m, the transmitting one radiating a power
of 10mW at 2.4GHz


This corresponds to 0.4nW (or an electric field strength of
0.12mVm-1)
The important quantity though is the signal to noise ratio at
the receiver. In most instances antenna noise is dominated by
electronic equipment thermal noise, given by
where is Boltzmans constant, B is the
receiver bandwidth and T is the room temperature in Kelvin
( ) 0 . 80 1 . 0 log 20 2400 log 20 4 . 32 dB
10 10 0
= + + = L
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 0 . 94 0 . 80 2 log 10 2 log 10 10 log 10 dBW
10 10
2
10 rx
= + + =

P
TB k N
B
=
1 23
JK 10 38 . 1

=
B
k
Basic calculations (cont.)
The noise power output by a receiver with a Noise Figure F =
10dB, and bandwidth B = 200kHz at room temperature (T =
300K) is calculated as follows




Thus the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is given by
( ) ( ) ( ) F TB k N
B 10 10
log 10 log 10 dBW + =
( ) ( ) ( ) 10 log 10 10 200 300 10 38 . 1 log 10 dBW
10
3 23
10
+ =

N
dBm 8 . 110 dBW 8 . 140 = = N
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 8 . 140 0 . 94 dBW dBW dB = = N P SNR
dB 8 . 46 = SNR
Basic calculations (cont.)
Propagation over a flat earth
The two ray model (homogeneous ground)







Valid in the VHF, band and above (i.e. f > 30MHz where
ground/surface wave effects are negligible)
Valid for flat ground (i.e. r.m.s. roughness oz < , typically f s 30GHz)
Valid for short ranges where the earths curvature is negligible (i.e. d <
1030 km, depending on atmospheric conditions)
z

h
t
h
r
d

r
1
r
2
air, c
0
,
0
ground, c
r
,
0
, o

Tx

Rx

P



x

Propagation over flat earth
The path difference between the direct and ground-reflected
paths is and this corresponds to a phase difference

The total electric field at the receiver is given by





The angles u and | are the elevation and azimuth angles of
the direct and ground reflected paths measured from the
boresight of the transmitting antenna radiation pattern
1 2
r r r = A
( )
1 2
r r k = A
( )
| | ( )
( ) ( ) { }
| | ( )
( ) ( ) { } . e e
e e E
| u | u
e
| u | u
e
e
| | u u
| | u u
' '
+
' '

+
+

=
,

exp
60
,

exp
60 ,
2
2
rad
1
1
rad
T T
T T
g g
r
c r t j
P
g g
r
c r t j
P r

( ) ( ) ( ) e e e , , ,
2 1
r r r E E E

+ =
Reflection of plane waves
Reflection coefficient is a tensor

The reflection coefficient can be resolved
into two canonical polarisations, TE and TM
and has both a magnitude and phase
( )
( ) u ec o c u
u ec o c u
2
0
2
0 TE
sin cos
sin cos
+

= I = I

j
j
r
r
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) u ec o c u ec o c
u ec o c u ec o c
2
0 0
2
0 0 | | TM
sin cos
sin cos
+

= I = I
j j
j j
r r
r r
i r
E E

. =
( ) | j exp = I
Plane of
incidence
15
Mobihoc '03 Radio Channel Modelling
Tutorial
Reflection of plane waves
Typical reflection
coefficients for
ground as a function
of the grazing angle
(complement of the
angle of incidence).
In this instance,
1 2
Sm 10 , 15

= = o c
r
Pseudo-Brewster angle
Propagation over flat earth
This expression can be simplified considerably for vertical and
horizontal polarisations for large ranges d >> h
t
, h
r
, ,
( ) ( ) ( )
d
h kh
h h d h h d k r r k
r t
r t r t
2
2
2
2
2
1 2
~ |
.
|

\
|
+ + + = = A
( ) ( )
( )
( )

~ +
on polarisati h. for

on polarisati for v. cos


| u | u
| | u u
tx y
tx z
T T
G
G
g g
e
e
e e
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

I
I
~ +
pol. h. for

pol. for v. cos

TE
TM


| u | u
| | u u
tx y
tx z
T T
G
G
g g
e
e
e e .
( ) ( ) 1
h TE v TM
~ I = I ~ I = I
( )
d
h h d
r
r t
1 1 1
2
2
1
~
+
~
( )
d
h h d
r
r t
1 1 1
2
2
2
~
+ +
~
Propagation over flat earth
There are two sets of ranges to consider, separated by a
breakpoint
( ) ( ) A I + ~ j E E
h v h v
exp 1
, 0 ,
( ) ( ) 2 sin 4 exp 1
2
0
2
0
A = A ~
rx rx rx
P j P P
|
.
|

\
|
~
d
h h
P P
r t
rx rx

t 2
sin 4
2
0
2 2
sin &
4
2 2

t A
~
|
.
|

\
|
A
> <
A
b
r t
d
h h
d
2
2
4sin &
2 2
2
=
|
.
|

\
|
A
< >
A t
b
d d
Propagation over flat earth
Thus there are two simple propagation path loss laws

where l is a rapidly varying (fading) term over distances of the
scale of a wavelength, and

This simplifies to



The total path loss (free space loss + excess path loss) is
independent of frequency and shows that height increases the
received signal power (antenna height gain) and that the
received power falls as d
-4
not d
-2

( )
c
d d l L L < + ~ for 0 . 3 dB
0
( ) ( )
c
d d L L > A ~ for log 20 dB
10 0

( )
|
.
|

\
|

|
.
|

\
|
~
d
h h d
L
r t

t 4
log 20
4
log 20 dB
10 10
( )
r t
h h d L
10 10 10
log 20 log 20 log 40 dB ~
Propagation over flat earth
Typical ground
(earth), with
c
r
= 15
o= 0.005Sm
-1

h
t
= 20m and
h
r
= 2m
deep fade
1/d
2
power law regime (d < d
c
)
1/d
4
power law regime (d > d
c
)
Propagation over flat earth
When h
t
= 0 or h
r
= 0

This implies that no communication is possible for ground
based antennas (not quite true in practice)

Furthermore, for perfectly conducting ground and vertical
polarisation at grazing incidence,


0
2
sin 4
2
0
=
|
.
|

\
|
~
d
h h
P P
r t
rx rx

t
( ) 1
v TM
+ = I = I
|
.
|

\
|
~
d
h h
P P
r t
rx rx

t 2
cos 4
2
0
Propagation over flat earth
Problem: A boat has an elevated antenna mounted on a mast
at height h
t
above a highly conducting perfectly flat sea. If the
radiation pattern of the antenna approximates that of a
vertically polarised current element, i.e. , determine
the in-situ radiation pattern of the antenna and in particular
the radiation pattern nulls as a function of the elevation angle
above the horizon.

Answer:
u
u
cos

e
( )
|
.
|

\
|
= u

t
u u
u
tan
2
cos cos

t
h
f e
, 2 , 1 , 0 ,
4
1 2
=
+
= n
h
n
t

u
Path clearance on LOS paths
Assume that in the worst case scenario we get the strongest
possible scattering from the sub-path obstacle: specular
reflection at grazing incidence
h
t
d

r
0
r
1
Tx

Rx

P

u
h
c
r
01
r
02
h
r
h

r
11
r
22
d
1
d
2
Path clearance on LOS paths
The electrical path difference between the direct and
scattered rays from the top of the obstacle is,



Since typically
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) | |
02
2 2
02 01
2 2
01
02 01 12 11 0 1
r h r r h r k
r r r r k r r k k
c c
+ + + =
+ = = A
c
h r r >>
02 01
,
2 1
2
2 1
2
02 01
2
02
02
2
02 01
01
2
01
2
1 1
2
1 1
2
2 2
d d
d kh
d d
kh
r r
kh
r
r
h
r r
r
h
r k k
c
c c
c c
~
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ ~
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ ~
(

|
|
.
|

\
|
+ +
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ ~ A
Path clearance on LOS paths
Additionally, comparing similar parallelograms gives,


Under the assumptions made, the direct and scattered waves
have similar magnitudes and differ in phase by t due to the
grazing incidence reflection
If the electrical path difference is t this corresponds to a
first Fresnel zone path clearance


Problem: Verify that the breakpoint distance in the two ray
model corresponds to the point at which the first Fresnel zone
touches the ground
u cos
2 1
|
.
|

\
|

+
= h
d
d h d h
h
t r
c
d
d d
h
c
2 1

>
Site shielding
We consider the two-dimensional problem of site shielding by
an obstacle in the line-of-sight path for simplicity (rigorous
diffraction theory is beyond the scope of these introductory
lectures)
We invoke the Huygens-Fresnel principle to describe wave
propagation:
Every point on a primary wavefront serves as the source of spherical
secondary wavelets such that the primary wavefront at some later
time is the envelope of these wavelets. Moreover, the wavelets
advance with a speed andfrequency equal to that of the primary wave
at each point in space. Huygens's principle was slightly modified by
Fresnel to explain why no back wave was formed, and Kirchhoff
demonstrated that the principle could be derived from the wave
equation
Site shielding
T

R

P

d
1
d
2
d
1
d
1
r = d
2
+ o
P
O
observation
plane
perfectly
absorbing
knife-edge
du

u
0
(u
0
> 0 path obstraction)
(u
0
< 0 path clearance)
u

o

Site shielding
Site sheilding
The Kirchhoff integral describing the summing of secondary
wavefronts in the Huygens-Fresnel principle yields the field at
the receiver


where k
1
describes the transmitter power, polarisation and
radiation pattern, f(r) describes the amplitude spreading
factor for the secondary waves (2D cylindrical wave f(r) = r
1/2
,
3D spherical wave f(r) = r) and u
1
is a large positive value of u
to describe a distant upper bound on the wavefront
( )
( )
( )
1
0
1
exp
u
u
jkr
E R k du
f r

=
}
Site shielding
Stationary phase arguments (since the exponent is oscillatory,
especially for high frequencies) show that only the fields in
the vicinity of the point O contribute significantly to the field
at R
If point O is obstructed by the knife-edge, then only the fields
in the vicinity of the tip of the knife-edge contribute
significantly to the field at R
Using the cosine rule on the triangle TPR, gives
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )( )
2 2 2
2
2 2 2
2 1 2 1 1 2 1
1
2 cos
2 cos
r PR TP TR TP TR
u
d d d d d d d
d
o
o
= = +

+ = + + +
`
)
Site shielding
If we assume that d
1
, d
2
>> , u (stationary phase and far-field
approximations), then u/d
1
, o << 1 and o
2
<< o




Thus, using stationary phase arguments, we may only keep
the fast varying exponential term inside the Kirchhoff integral
and evaluate the slowly varying f(r) term at the stationary
phase point O, to give,
( )
1
2
2 2 2 2 2
2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
2
1
2
1 2
1 2
2 2 2 2 1
2
2
u
d d d d d d d d d
d
d d
u
d d
o o
o

+ + + + +
`
)
+
( )
( )
( )
( ) { }
1
0
1 2
2
exp
exp
u
u
k jkd
E R jk u du
f d
o

}
Site shielding
Since , we make the substitution



which simplifies the integral to the form,


where we have used the stationary phase argument to make
the upper limit
Using the definition of the complex Fresnel integral,
( )
2
1 2
1 2
d d
k u u
d d
t
o

+
( )
2
1 2
2
1 2 2
2
&
2
d d
d
u k u k du
d d k
tv v
v o

+
= = =
( )
( )
( )
{ }
0
1 2 2
2 2
exp
exp 2
k jkd
E R j d
k f d
v
tv v

}
( )
{ }
2
0
exp 2
x
F x j d tv v
}
Site shielding





To determine k
3
we let v and use F()= F() and
the fact that in this case we have free-space propagation (i.e.
E(R) = E
0
(R)) , to get,
( )
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
1 2
3
2 2
3 0
3 0
exp
1
2
k jkd
k
k f d
E R k F F
j
E R k F
v
v

(

( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
0 3
0 0
3
1
1
1 2
E R k j
E R E R
k j
j

= = +

Site shielding
Therefore,

where,

The path-gain factor, F, is given by,


Useful engineering approximations:
( )
( )
( )
{ }
0
0 2
1 exp 2
2
E R
E R j j d
v
tv v

+
}
( )
1 2
0 0
1 2
2 d d
u
d d
v

+
=
( )
( )
{ }
0
2
0
1
exp 2
2
E R
F j d
E R
v
tv v

=
}
10 10 0 0
2
10 0 0 0
2
10 0 0 0
20log 13 20log 2.4
20log 6.02 9.11 1.27 0 2.4
20log 6.02 9.0 1.65 0.8 0
F
F v
F v
v v
v v
v v
+ >
+ s s
+ + s <
Site shielding
Multipath propagation
Mobile radio channels are predominantly in the VHF
and UHF bands
VHF band (30 MHz s f s 300 MHz, or 1 m s s 10 m)
UHF band (300 MHz s f s 3 GHz, or 10 cm s s 1 m)
In an outdoor environment electromagnetic signals
can travel from the transmitter to the receiver along
many paths
Reflection
Diffraction
Transmission
Scattering
Multipath propagation
Narrowband signal
(continuous wave
CW) envelope
Area mean or path
loss (deterministic or
empirical)
Local mean, or shadowing, or slow
fading (deterministic or statistical)
Fast or multipath
fading (statistical)
Multipath propagation
The total signal consists of
many components
Each component
corresponds to a signal
which has a variable
amplitude and phase
The power received varies
rapidly as the component
phasors add with rapidly
changing phases
Averaging the phase angles results in the local mean
signal over areas of the order of ~ 10
2
Averaging the length (i.e. power) over many
locations/obstructions results in the area mean
The signals at the receiver can be expressed in
terms of delay, and depend on polarisation, angle
of arrival, Doppler shift, etc.
Area mean models
We will only cover the Hata-Okumura model, which
derives from extensive measurements made by
Okumura in 1968 in and around Tokyo between 200
MHz and 2 GHz
The measurements were approximated in a set of
simple median path loss formulae by Hata
The model has been standardised by the ITU as
recommendation ITU-R P.529-2
Area mean models
The model applies to three clutter and terrain
categories
Urban area: built-up city or large town with large buildings
and houses with two or more storeys, or larger villages
with closely built houses and tall, thickly grown trees
Suburban area: village or highway scattered with trees and
houses, some obstacles being near the mobile, but not
very congested
Open area: open space, no tall trees or buildings in path,
plot of land cleared for 300 400 m ahead, e.g. farmland,
rice fields, open fields

Area mean models


where
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) cities small to medium for 8 . 0 log 56 . 1 7 . 0 log 1 . 1
MHz 300 cities, large for 1 . 1 54 . 1 log 29 . 8
MHz 300 cities, large for 97 . 4 75 . 11 log 2 . 3
94 . 40 log 33 . 18 log 78 . 4
4 . 5 28 log 2
log 55 . 6 9 . 44
log 82 . 13 log 16 . 26 55 . 69
2
2
2
2
=
< =
> =
+ + =
+ =
=
+ =
c m c
c m
c m
c c
c
b
b c
f h f E
f h E
f h E
f f D
f C
h B
h f A
( )
( )
( ) D R B A L
C R B A L
E R B A L
+ ~
+ ~
+ ~
log dB : areas open
log dB : areas suburban
log dB : areas urban
Area mean models
The Hata-Okumura model is only valid for:
Carrier frequencies: 150 MHz s f
c
s 1500 MHz
Base station/transmitter heights: 30 m s h
b
s 200 m
Mobile station/receiver heights: 1 m s h
m
s 10 m
Communication range: R > 1 km
A large city is defined as having an average building height
in excess of 15 m
Local mean model
The departure of the local mean power from the area mean
prediction, or equivalently the deviation of the area mean
model is described by a log-normal distribution
In the same manner that the theorem of large numbers states
that the probability density function of the sum of many
random processes obeys a normal distribution, the product of
a large number of random processes obeys a log-normal
distribution
Here the product characterises the many cascaded
interactions of electromagnetic waves in reaching the receiver
The theoretical basis for this model is questionable over
short-ranges, but it is the best available that fits observations
Local mean model
Working in logarithmic units (decibels, dB), the total path loss
is given by

where X
o
is a random variable obeying a lognormal
distribution with standard deviation o (again measured in dB)


If x is measured in linear units (e.g. Volts)



where m
x
is the mean value of the signal given by the area
mean model
( ) ( )
o
X d L d PL + =
( ) { }
2
dB
2
dB
2 exp
2
1
o
t o
o o
X X p =
( )
)
`


=
2
dB
dB
2
ln ln
exp
2
1
o
t o
x
m x
x
x p
Local mean model
Cumulative probability density function




This can be used to calculate the probability that the signal-to-
noise ratio will never be lower than a desired threshold value.
This is called an outage calculation
Typical values of o
dB
= 10 dB are encountered in urban
outdoor environments, with a de-correlation distance
between 20 80 m with a median value of 40 m
( ) { }
( )
( )
|
.
|

\
|
=
= s
}


2
erfc
2
1
1
2 exp
2
1
cdf
2
dB
2
dB
Threshold
d L L
dX X L PL
T
d L L
T
o
t o
Fast fading models
Constructive and destructive
interference
In spatial domain
In frequency domain
In time domain (scatterers, tx and rx in
relative motion)
Azimuth dependent Doppler shifts
Each multipath component travels
corresponds to a different path length.
Plot of power carried by each
component against delay is called the
power delay profile (PDP )of the
channel.
2
nd
central moment of PDP is called the
delay spread o
t
P
Im
Re
Fast fading models
The relation of the radio system channel bandwidth B
ch
to the
delay spread o is very important
Narrowband channel (flat fading, negligible inter-symbol interference
(ISI), diversity antennas useful)
Wideband channel (frequency selective fading, need equalisation
(RAKE receiver) or spread spectrum techniques (W-CDMA, OFDM,
etc.) to avoid/limit ISI)
Fast fading refers to very rapid variations in signal strength (20
to in excess of 50 dB in magnitude) typically in an analogue
narrowband channel
Dominant LOS component Rician fading
NLOS components of similar magnitude Rayleigh fading
1
<< o
ch
B
1
> o
ch
B
Fast fading models
Working in logarithmic units (decibels, dB), the total path loss
is given by

where Y is random variable which describes the fast fading
and it obeys the distribution



for Rayleigh fading, where the mean value of Y is
( ) ( ) Y X d L d PL
10
log 20 + + =
o
80 . 0 1 2 ~ = t Y
( )

<
>
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
0 , 0
0 ,
2
exp
2
2
2
Y
Y
Y Y
Y p

Fast fading models
For Rician fading




where y
s
is the amplitude of the dominant (LOS) component
with power . The ratio is called the Rician
K-factor. The mean value of Y is


The Rician K-factor can vary considerably across small areas in
indoor environments


( )

<
>
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

=
0 , 0
0 , I
2
exp
2
0
2
2 2
2
Y
Y
Yy y Y Y
Y p
s s

2
2
s
y
2 2
Rice
2
s
y K =
( ) ( ) ( ) | | ( ) 2 exp 2 I 2 I 1 2
1 0
K K K K K Y + + = t
Fading models
Similar but much more complicated outage calculations
E.g. Rayleigh and log-normal distributions combine to give a Suzuki
distribution
The spatial distribution of fades is such that the length of a
fade depends on the number of dB below the local mean
signal we are concerned with
Fade depth (dB) Average fade length ()
0 0.479
-10 0.108
-20 0.033
-30 0.010
Tropospheric propagation
Over long-distances, more than a few tens of km,
and heights of up to 10 km above the earths surface,
clear air effects in the troposphere become non-
negligible
The dielectric constant of the air at the earths
surface of (approx.) 1.0003 falls to 1.0000 at great
heights where the density of the air tends to zero
A consequence of Snells law of refraction is that
radiowaves follow curved, rather than straight-line
trajectories
Tropospheric propagation
The variation of the ray
curvature with refractive index is
derived:
AA': wavefront at time t
BB': wavefront at time t + dt
AB and A'B': rays normal to the
wavefronts
: radius of curvature of A'B'
A
A'
B'
B
O
du
|

d
dh
n + dn
n
( ) ( )
( )( )
c dt
A B d v dt
n
c dt
AB d d v dv dt
n dn
d c c
dt n n dn d
u
u
u

' ' = = =

= + = + =
+
= =
+ +
Tropospheric propagation

Retaining only terms which are correct to first order in small
quantities,



But this is the curvature, C, of the ray A'B', by definition.
Furthermore,


For rays propagating along the earths surface | is very small
and we may take cos| = 1. Moreover, n
1
~ 1.
n n nd dn dnd = + + +
1 1
dn nd
dn
n d


=
=
cos dh d | =
1 1
cos
dn
C
n dh
|

=
Tropospheric propagation

If n = constant, dn/dh = 0 C = 0 and the ray has zero
curvature, i.e. the ray path is a straight line
A ray propagating horizontally above the earth must have a
curvature C' = (earths radius)
1
= a
1
in order to remain
parallel with the earths surface. But its actual curvature is
given by C and not C'.
The difference between the two curvatures gives the
curvature of an equivalent earth for which dn/dh = 0 and
which has an effective radius a
e
,
dn
C
dh

1 1 1
e
dn
a a dh ka
=
Tropospheric propagation
k is known as the k-factor for the earth
Typically, dn/dh ~ 0.03910
6
m
1
~ 1/(25,600 km)
Therefore,

The k-factor of the earth is k = 4/3
The effective radius of the earth is a
e
= 4a/3
These values are used in the standard earth model which
explains why the radio horizon is bigger than the radio horizon
( )
1 1 1 1
6, 400 km 25, 600 km 6, 400 km
e
a k
= =
Tropospheric propagation
Problem: Find the radio horizon of an elevated antenna at a
height h
t
above the earth

Answer: 2
e t
R a h =

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