INTRODUCTION TO

RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION

ECE 516E – ANTENNA & RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION
Friday, 28 January 2022
OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RADIO WAVES
Radio waves have similar propagation characteristics as light, i.e they
can be (a) reflected, (b) refracted and (c) diffracted.

(a) Reflected (b) Refracted

(c) Diffracted
RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

All conducting materials including

buildings, water towers, vehicles,
power lines, etc reflect radio
waves

• Without reflection and diffraction, GSM reception in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz
bands will be very poor for those in shadows of building or behind hills; and very
poor inside a vehicle or in the basement of a building.
 REFLECTION OF RADIO WAVES

• Reflection reverses the electric

field resulting in 180o phase shift.

1. Total reflection occurs when the reflecting surface is a

perfect conductor(e.g. copper or aluminium).
2. Partial reflection occurs for non-perfect conductors.
3. Total Penetration occurs for non-conductors.
 RADIO WAVE REFRACTION
1. Radio waves in free space travel at the same
speed as light, i.e. 3 × 108 m/s.
2. Other media such as water or glass slow down
the wave and causes it to bend.
3. Snell’s Law:
𝜂1 sin 𝜃1 = 𝜂2 sin(𝜃2 )
Where
𝜂1 is the refraction index of first media
𝜂2 is the refraction index of second media
𝜃1 is angle of incidence
𝜃2 is angle of refraction
 RADIO WAVE DIFRACTION - HUYGENS PRINCIPLE
1. In 1678, Huygens proposed that
every point which a luminous
disturbance reaches becomes a
source of a spherical wave; the
sum of these secondary waves
determines the form of the wave
at any subsequent time.

2. This principle is also sometimes

referred to the Huygens-Fresnel
principle.
RADIO WAVE REFRACTION - HUYGENS PRINCIPLE

(a) Diffraction of waves round a slit with length 𝐿 ≫ 𝜆 (a) Diffraction of waves round a slit with length 𝐿 = 𝜆
TYPES OF RADIO WAVES
There are three basic modes
that a radio signal can take
through space, i.e

(a) Ground Wave

(b) Sky Wave

(c) Space Wave

GROUND WAVES(1)

Ground waves (also called surface waves) follow

the curvature of the earth, and
1. Are vertically polarized;
2. Can travel over the horizon;
3. Have strongest propagation in low and
medium frequency bands, i.e 30 KHz – 3
MHz;
4. Can travel over 1000 kms depending on
surface conditions.
 GROUND WAVES(2)
1. AM broadcast signals travel by APPLICATION FREQUENCY RANGE
ground wave during the day but sky
wave at night. UHF Television 470 – 806 MHz
VHF Television 54 – 216 MHZ

2. Ground waves are affected by the FM RADIO 88 – 108 MHz

conductivity of the earth. Shortwave Radio 2 – 26 MHz

a) They propagate best over salty water, AM Radio 535 – 1605 KHz
b) They propagate worst over deserts
 SKY WAVES
1. Sky wave signals are bent back to the earth due to
refraction in the ionosphere.
2. At high angle, radio waves travel through the
ionosphere into space.
3. At some critical angle, the waves start to be
refracted back to the earth.
4. Generally, the higher the frequency, the smaller the
critical angle.
5. Little or no refraction occurs at frequencies above 50
MHz.
6. UHF and microwave frequency signals, generally pass
through the ionosphere without refraction.
7. During the period of sunspot activity, VHF and UHF
waves can be refracted back to the earth,
 THE IONOSPHERE
1. The ionosphere is defined as the height region of the earth’s
atmosphere where the concentration of free electrons is so
large that it affects radio waves.
2. The ionosphere was discovered when it was observed that
radio waves can propagate over large distances, and one
therefore had to assume the existence of an electrical
conductive layer in the upper atmosphere which could
reflect the waves.
3. The ionosphere is falls between 50 – 150 km altitude and is
generally divided into three layers, i.e D, E and F.

4. The ionosphere is formed when energetic electromagnetic-

and particle radiation from the sun and space ionize air
molecules, creating plasma in the upper atmosphere.
 DISCOVERY OF THE IONOSHERE
1. As early as 1882, The Scottish physicist, Balfour Stewart, understood ,
that there had to be an ionized region in the atmosphere.
• Compass measurements of the earth’s magnetic field showed
variations, which Steward thought could only be due to electric F-layer (150-500km)
currents in the upper atmosphere.
• He concluded that the upper atmosphere was more ionized in the
daytime than at night, and more at sunspot maxima than minima
(time of day, season, solar cycle dependence).
2. In December 1901, the Italian Marconi sent radio waves from Cornwall, E-layer (95-150km)
England to Newfoundland, Canada.
• British scientists Heaviside and Kenelly concluded that the waves had D-layer (50-95km)
to follow the curvature of the earth along electrically conductive
layers in the upper atmosphere.
• There had to be an “ionosphere” that acted like a mirror for radio
waves with wave length λ >≈ 20 m.
3. Together with other scientists they decided to measure the electric
properties of the upper atmosphere using continuous radio waves and
detected displacements by the Doppler principle.
4. Soon, several ionized layers where discovered, and Appleton suggested
a subdivision ordered alphabetically starting with the E-layer (Heaviside
and Kenelly) at the bottom, and with an F-layer above it.
PARTS OF THE IONOSPHERE
F layer
• Closest to the sun.
• Exists during day and night
• Causes refraction of short-wave radio signals

D layer
• Furthest from the sun and
is therefore weakly
polarized.
• Exists only during the day.
• Absorbs medium
frequency radio wave
signals
MULTIPLE SKIP/MULTIPLE HOP TRANSMISSION

1. Multiple skip (also called multiple hop)

transmission occurs when the signal
reflected by the ionosphere is reflected
back to the sky.
2. As many as 20 hops can occur for strong
signals under ideal ionospheric conditions.
3. The maximum distance on a single hop is
3,200 Kms.
4. Multiple skip can make a signal to go
round the earth.
 SKIP DISTANCE

• Skip distance is the distance from the

transmitting antenna to the point
where the first refracted signal strikes
the earth.
 DIRECT WAVE/SPACE WAVE
• Direct or line of sight travels are not refracted and therefore do not follow the curvature of
the earth.
• The practical distance of transmitting direct waves is a function of the heights of the
transmitting and receiving antennas as shown.
USE OF REPEATERS IN SPACE WAVE TRANSMISSION
• Repeaters are often used to increase the communication range of
terrestrial radio transmission systems.