Diffraction of Radio Waves

For radio wave propagation over rugh terrain, the propagation is dependent on the
size of the object encountered.

• Waves with wavelengths much shorter than the size of the object will be reflected
• Waves with wavelengths much larger than the size of the obstacle will pass vir-
tually unaffected.
• Waves with intermediate wavelengths curve around the edges of the obstacles in
their propagation (diffraction).

Diffraction allows radio signals to propagate around the curved surface and propagate
behind obstacles.











































































































































































































































B

A
















Figure 1: Effects of knife-edge obstructions on transmitted radio waves.

Propagation of Radio waves in the Atmosphere

• Diffraction of radio waves.

• Microwave communications.
• Propagation of radio waves in the Troposphere.
• Refraction of radio waves in the Ionosphere.
• Summary.
Diffraction of Radio Waves – Knife-Edge Model

The loss due to diffraction is

 
S + 0.5 −1 S + 0.5 π
F (v) = √ with ψ = tan −
2 sin(ψ + π/4) C + 0.5 4

C and S are the Fresnel integrals

Z v Z v
C= cos(x2π/2)dx, S= sin(x2π/2)dx
0 0

30

25

Diffraction loss F(v) (dB)

20

15

10

−5
−5 0 5
Diffraction parameter v (degree)

Figure 3: See Figure 2.9 of textbook for a better figure.

Diffraction of Radio Waves – Knife-Edge Model

C
K
dDf

h dD
A B

d1 d2

Figure 2: Knife-edge diffraction model.

• The received signal strength at point B is a function of the relative height h

• The field strength of a diffracted radio wave associated with a knife adge can be
expressed as follows:
E0
E =
F (v)
• E0 is the free-space field strength with no diffraction
• F (v) is the diffraction coefficient (loss) with diffraction parameter, denoted v,
r r s
∆ dDf − dD 2(d1 + d2)
v = −2 = −2 ≈ −h
λ λ λd1d2
Microwave Communication – Line-of-Sight Range

• The maximum LOS distance between the two antennas is given by

√ p p 
D = d1 + d2 ≈ 2R ht + h r
p p 
= 3.6 ht + hr , km

with ht and hr in meters.

• D is the maximum theoretical range over a smooth surface
• In practice, communication over such distance is not possible
• Multipath propagation (reflected paths)
• Smaller distances are usually used to ensure a line-of-sight communication
• Fresnel zone volume.

Microwave Communication

• Microwave communication links use very high frequencies ( > 1 GHz)

• A line-of-sight path between the two antennas is needed.
• Reflected waves usually create unwanted multipath signals and has to be sup-
pressed

Tx Rx
d1 d2
hr
ht
Earth

R R R=6370 km

Figure 4: Maximum unobstructed view of the transmitting antenna due to the curvature of a smooth earth.
Propagation in the Atmosphere

• The atmosphere around the earth contains a lot of gazes (∼ 1044 molecules)
• It is most dense at the earth surface (∼ 90% of molecules below a height of 20
km).
• It gets thinner as we reach higher and higher attitudes.
• The relative permittivity, r , is not constant but changes with the height.
• The velocity of wave propagation,
c
v=√
r

also changes with height.

• The refractive index of the air in the atmosphere is defined as
√
n = r

Microwave Communication – The Fresnel Zone

We define the fresnel zone (locus of point of reflections) of order k as the volume
(ellipsoid) such that the path difference between the direct and reflected waves in
kλ/2

A d1 d2 C



























































































































































Figure 5: The geometry of the ellipse used to obtain Fresnel’s ellipsoid.

with
d1 d2
AB + BC = AC + kλ/2 ; r 2 = kλ
d1 + d 2

• If there are no obstruction or reflecting objects inside the first (k = 1) fresnel zone
we consider the direct path between the transmitter and receiver to be clear.
• Antenna gains and directivity also help to reduce the effect of reflections.
Tropospheric Propagation

• The troposphere is the lowest region of the atmosphere.

• About 6 km high at the poles and about 18 km high at the equator.
• The refractive index varies with the height and depends on
• the pressure,
• the temperature, and
• the humidity
• Electromagnetic fields bend when passing through the troposphere
• The actual length of the propagation path between the transmitter and the re-
ceiver is then longer than that of the straight line approximation.

RX
e
l wav
actua
wave
ted
TX o xima
appr

Propagation in the Atmosphere

• The refractive index is a decreasing function of the attitude

n = funct(h)

• The refractive index approaches the refractive index of a vacuum, unity, at very
high attitudes.
lim n = 1
h1

• In reality, radio waves do not propagate along straight lines in space.

• The straight line proppagation assumption of radio waves is acceptable for
short range communications.
• For long range communications, the lower layers of the atmosphere change
the trajectory of radio waves and make them bend along the way.
The Laws of Refraction

• When a wave reaches the boundary between two media with different refractive
indices, it changes direction.
The angle of incidence, α1 and α2 satisfy the Snell’s equation. That is,
n1 sin α1 = n2 sin α2 ,
or in terms of the grazing angles
n1 cos θ1 = n2 cos θ2
where ni is the refractive index of medium i.

α2
medium 2
θ2
θ1
α1 medium 1

Figure 6: Angles of refraction

11

Standard Models of the Troposphere – ITU Models

• For a normal atmosphere (reference atmosphere), the refractive index is modeled

as a function of the height h as

nh = 1 + ae−bh
or instead the refractive modulus, N , defined as

N = (nh − 1) × 106

• The standard reference atmosphere (defined by ITU-R) is characterized by the

parameters
a = 315 × 10−6, b = 0.136 × 10−3
and
h
N = 315 − × 103 ≈ 315 − 0.039h
4R0
h is the height measured in meters.
R0 = 6370 km is the earth radius measured in kilometers.
• The refractive index can also be approximated as:
1
nh ≈ n0 − Kh ≈ 1 − Kh, with K=
4R0

• Such a model is quite accurate for attitudes up to 1000 meters.

Effective Earth Radius – Earth Model

• The variation in refractive index allows direct waves to reach points beyond the
geometrical line-of-sight range.
• We may simplify the calculation of the curvature of this ray by using an equivalent
earth model.
• The effective earth radius is the radius of an equivalent earth model over which:
• The air around it has a constant index of refraction.
• Direct paths propagate along straight lines (linear path propagation).

path length d

real earth

R0

path length d

earth model

Re

Figure 8: Equivalent earth radius and the earth model.

13

Curvature of Space Wave in the Troposphere

• The bending of electromagnetic waves as they pass through a medium with vary-
ing refractivity is governed by Snell’s law.
• The troposphere can be approximated by several thin layers as follows:

n2
A
θ2

n1 α
θ1
dR B

R+dR
R

Figure 7: Rays under refraction in spherical surfaces.

The Snell’s law for spherically dielectric medium is given by

R1n1 cos θ1 = R2n2 cos θ2
Line-Of-Sight Range – Earth Model

• The distance D between the two antennas is given by taking the refraction of the
radio wave into account, the maximum LOS range becomes:
p p p 
D = 2Re ht + hr
p p 
≈ 4.12 ht + hr , km

with ht and hr in meters.

15

Effective Earth Radius – Earth Model

Consider a receive antenna with antenna height denoted h. Let us assume a transmit
antenna height of zero.

• For the real earth we have:

n0R0 cos θ0 = nhRh cos θ1
= (n0 − Kh)(R0 + h) cos θ1

• Using the new earth model, we obtain a medium with a constant refractive index
n0Re cos θ0 = n0(Re + h) cos θ1

• The effective earth radius is obtained by simply dividing the above two equations
n0 R 0
Re =
n0 − K(R0 + h)
4
≈ R0 = 8500 km
3
The Ionosphere

• A comparison between the number of free electrons N and the number of gas
molecules Np per cubic meter at various heights above ground level.

1000

900

800

700

Height h (km) 600

500
Nmber of gas molecules Np
400

300

200

100
Nmber of free electrons N
0 10 15 20 25
10 10 10 10
N and Np per cubic meter (m−3)

17

The Ionosphere

The ionizing radiation is maximum in the outer atmosphere and is gradually absorbed
as it approaches ground level.

• A very low attitudes, there are a lot of molecules and very little radiation energy
• ionized electron will recombine very fast
• At great heights there are few molecules or atoms to ionize despite the abundance
of energy
• recombination is very slow.
• Somewhere in between there are optimum states with sufficient remaining radi-
ation energy and molecules to set up regions of ionization without too rapid a
recombination rate
• These regions are called the ionosphere
• These regions are good conductors and can reflect radio waves back to earth!
Normal Ionospheric Conditions

• Under normal conditions, the ionosphere has the following parameters:

e2 N e ν e2 N e
σ= , r = 1 −
4mπ 2(ν 2 + f 2 ) 4m0π 2(ν 2 + f 2 )
Ne is the electron density, f is the frequency
ν is the electron collusion frequency
140

130

120

Height h (km)
110

100

90

80

70

60 3 4 5 6 7 8
10 10 10 10 10 10
−1
v(s )

Figure 9: The variation of effective electron collision frequency with length.

19

The Ionosphere

• Earth’s atmosphere
• Most meteorological activities and cloud formation occur in the first 10 km.
• At 30 km radiation from the sun is sufficient to generate some electrons.
• First distinct ionize layer occurs at 70 km, temperature and incident radiation increases an E
and F layers are formed at 120 and 450 km.

• These distinct layers constitute the ionosphere, a partially conducting medium

reflecting radio waves back to ground.
• Long connection distances
• HF range range (3 – 30 MHz)

see Figure 2.17

Critical Frequency

• The critical frequency (or plasma frequency) is defined at n = 0 and is given by

p
fC = 9 Ne∗

Ne∗ is the maximum electron density in the layer.

• All radio waves, entering the ionosphere layer, will always be reflected if their
frequency is lower than the critical frequency
f ≤ fC

• If their frequency is higher than the critical frequency, the return of radio waves
is dependent on the grazing angle.

21

Refraction Index of the Ionosphere

The refraction index of the ionosphere medium is given by

s
√ 81Ne
n = r ≈ 1 − 2
f

which is a decreasing function of the height.

• This causes an incident wave to be refracted or reflected down towards earth.

ionospheric
layer

Figure 10: Refraction in an ionospheric layer.

Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF)

• The MUF is the maximum frequency at which the wave will return to earth for
a specific distance
from s
81Ne
nm = cos φ0 = 1−
f2
we get
√
9 Ne fC
MUF = =
sin φ0 sin φ0
• For frequencies above the critical frequency, there is exists a minimum commu-
nication distance known as the Skip Distance.

ionospheric
layer

Skip Distance

Figure 11: Ray paths for sky waves at different grazing angles.
23

Refraction in the Ionosphere

Pm ionospheric
layer
φ P
φ0

h’
h

Using Snell’s refraction law, we can write

cos φ0 = n cos φ

• The radio wave will reflect back to earth if and only if at some point, Pm, the
grazing angle is zero. That is
nm = cos φ0
Example

• The critical frequency of the E-layer, fC , is at some instant 3 MHz. Assume that
the virtual height of the reflection point (Pm) is 100 km, independently of the
frequency used.
• Estimate the length of the skip-zone at the frequencies 5, 7, and 10 MHz!
• Compare the obtained results when using a plane earth model with that ob-
tained with spherical earth!

25

Vertical and Oblique Incidenting Waves Frequencies

• At the reflection height the electron density is equal for all incident waves. In
this case we have
fo sin φ0 = fv ≤ fC
fo is the frequency of the oblique incidenting waves
fv is the frequency of the vertical incidenting waves
• Prediction of Ionosphere Links:
• Vertical ionosond (radar): Transmits a vertical signal and measures the travel
time of the returning signal.
• Oblique ionosond: A receiver receiving signals from a distant reference re-
ceiver.
• Optimum Working Frequency (OWF):
To account for day-to-day variations within the month the Optimum Working
Frequency (OWF) is set to 85% of the MUF
OWF = 0.85MUF
 27

Summary (2)

• Radio waves bend around corners and reflect on objects in the atmosphere.
• Propagation properties of radio waves is dependent on the frequency.

High frequency

Medium frequency

Low frequency

• Assign the appropriate frequency spectrum to the appropriate application.