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What are the methods of Propagation of a Radio Wave?
In Radio communication systems, we use wireless electromagnetic waves as the channel. The antennas of different specifications can be used for these purposes. The mode of propagation of electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere and in free space may be divided into the following three categories:
- The line of sight (LOS) propagation
- Ground wave propagation
- Skywave propagation
In ELF (Extremely low frequency) and VLF (Very low frequency) frequency bands, the Earth, and the ionosphere act as a wave-guide for electromagnetic wave propagation. In these frequency ranges, communication signals practically propagate around the world. The channel bandwidths are small. Therefore, the information is transmitted through these channels has slow speed and confined to digital transmission.
The line of Sight (LOS) Propagation
Among the modes of propagation, this line-of-sight propagation is the one, which we would have commonly noticed. In the line-of-sight communication, as the name implies, the wave travels a minimum distance of sight. Which means it travels to the distance up to which a naked eye can see. Then we need to employ an amplifier cum transmitter here to amplify the signal and transmit again.
The line-of-sight propagation will not be smooth if there occurs any obstacle in its transmission path. As the signal can travel only to lesser distances in this mode, this transmission is used for infrared or microwave transmissions.
Ground Wave Propagation
Ground wave propagation of the wave follows the contour of the earth. Such a wave is called a direct wave. The wave sometimes bends due to the Earth’s magnetic field and gets reflected the receiver. Such a wave can be termed as a reflected wave. The following figure depicts ground wave propagation.
The wave then propagates through the Earth’s atmosphere is known as a ground wave. The direct wave and reflected wave together contribute the signal at the receiver station. When the wave finally reaches the receiver, the lags are cancelled out. In addition, the signal is filtered to avoid distortion and amplified for clear output.
SkyWave Propagation
Skywave propagation is preferred when the wave has to travel a longer distance. Here the wave is projected onto the sky and it is again reflected back to the earth.
The sky wave propagation is well depicted in the above picture. Here the waves are shown to be transmitted from one place and where it is received by many receivers. Hence, it is an example of broadcasting.
The waves, which are transmitted from the transmitter antenna, are reflected from the ionosphere. It consists of several layers of charged particles ranging in altitude from 30-250 miles above the surface of the earth. Such travel of the wave from the transmitter to the ionosphere and from there to the receiver on Earth is known as Sky Wave Propagation. The ionosphere is the ionized layer around the Earth’s atmosphere, which is suitable for skywave propagation.
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