Electromagnetic Wave Theory

Lecture 7
 Electromagnetic Radiation
 Fundamentals of electromagnetic waves
 Effects of environment
 Propagation of waves
 Surface waves
 Ionospheric Propagation
  Ionospheric Propagation
 Ionospheric structure
 Critical frequency
 Maximum useable frequency
 Optimum working frequency
 Lowest useable frequency
 Line of sight propagation
 Electromagnetic Radiation
 Electricity and electromagnetic waves are
related.
 The electrical energy generated in a
circuit is converted into electromagnetic
energy.
 An electromagnetic field is made up of an
electric and magnetic field. These fields
exist within all electric circuits.
 The energy within these fields is normally
confined within the circuit.
 In certain circumstances the energy is
radiated or set free from the circuit.
 In cases where such a radiation is
undesired it is called radio frequency
interference.
 For a radio transmitter the circuit is
specially designed to radiate maximum
energy.
 The electric and magnetic fields are
perpendicular to each other and both
are also perpendicular to the direction
of propagation, as such they are said
to be transverse.
Wavefront
 If an electromagnetic wave were
radiated equally in all directions from a
point source, a spherical wavefront
would result. Such a source is said to
be isotropic.

 A wavefront is a plane, which joins all

points of equal phase.
Note
In this instance the wavefront is spherical, but at large
distances from the source the wavefront will become nearly
flat.
 The power density (in watts per square
meter) at a wavefront is inversely
proportional to the square of the
distance from the source, with respect
to the power originally transmitted. In
mathematical terms.
Pt

4r 2
 where Pt is the power generated at the
source.

 This is called the inverse square law

and it applies to all forms of radiation in
free space.
 Electric and Magnetic field intensity

These are the direct counterparts of voltage and current in circuits.

Electric field intensity (E) is measured in volts per meter V/m

Magnetic field intensity (H) is measured in amperes per meter A/m.

It follows that E  zH
where z is the characteristic impedance of the medium which is
defined as

z

For free space   4  10  1.257  10
7 6
H/m,
permeability of medium

  1 36  109  8.854  1012 F/m,

electric permittivity

Making the above substitutions

1.257  106
z  120  377
8.854  10 12
The field strength can therefore be calculated at a distance r
from the point source.

Just like in electrical circuits, the power for electromagnetic

waves can be found by using

 E / z 2

E   z
2
 Internal Noise
making the substitution for  and z we obtain

Pt 30 Pt
E 
2
 120  2
4r 2
r

30 Pt
E
r
 Attenuation and Absorption

From the inverse square law it can be established that the power
density diminishes rapidly with distance from the source of the
electromagnetic waves.

The waves are then said to be attenuated as they move away from
the source and it is proportional to the square of the distance
travelled.

The attenuation is measured in decibels is numerically the same

for both field intensity and power density.

r2
  20 log
r1
In free space, absorption of radio waves does not occur, because
there is nothing there to absorb them.

In the atmosphere some of the energy in the electromagnetic wave

is transferred to atoms and molecules in the atmosphere.

At frequencies below 10 GHz this absorption is not significant.

 Effects of environment

When waves are propagated near the earth several factors

have to be considered.

The waves are subject to reflection by the ground,

mountains and buildings.

The will also be refracted as they pass through different

layers of atmosphere.

They can also be diffracted by tall objects.

 Reflection of waves

Similar to light waves electromagnetic waves are also reflected by

a conducting medium.
The angle of incidence will be equal to the angle of reflection.

The reflection coefficient, is defined as the ratio of the electric

intensity of the reflected wave to that of the incident wave. For a
perfect reflector it is unity.

It is important that the electric vector be perpendicular to the

conducting surface. If it is fully parallel to the surface, the electric
field is shorted out and all of the energy is dissipated in the form
of surface currents.
 Refraction

This again is similar to the situation in light waves. The angle of

incidence equals the angle of refraction, Snell’s law.

n1 sin 1  n2 sin  2
where n1 is the refractive index of the incident medium,
n2 is the refractive index of the refractive medium,
1 is the angle of incidence,
2 is the angle of refraction
 Diffraction

This is the phenomenon whereby waves travelling in straight

paths bend around an obstacle.

It is known as Huygens’ principle. This states that each point

on a spherical wavefront maybe considered as a source of a
secondary spherical wavefront.

This concept explains why it is possible to obtain reception

behind a mountain or tall building.
 Propagation of Waves

The basic modes by which radio waves are transmitted to a

receiving antenna are:

Ground (Surface) Waves

Space Waves

Sky Waves

Satellite Communication
 Ground Waves

These travel along the surface of the earth (more or less

following the contour of the earth) and must be vertically
polarized to prevent short-circuiting.
They can travel considerable distances, well over the visual
horizon.

As the wave propagates over the earth, it tilts over more and
more. (A current is induced in the earth’s surface by the
electromagnetic wave, the result is the wavefront near the
surface slows down).

This causes the wave to short circuit completely at some

distance (in wavelengths) from its source.
This shows that the maximum range of such a transmitter depends
on its frequency as well as its power.

Increasing the frequency of transmission increases the loss. They

are therefore not effective above 2 MHz.

It is much better over water than dry ground. They are a reliable
communication link. Reception is not affected by daily or
seasonal changes.

Used effectively to communicate with submarines at extremely

low frequencies 30 – 300 Hz.
 Field strength at a distance

Radiation from an antenna by means of ground wave taking into

consideration the gain of the transmitting antenna at a distance may
be found using 120h I
E t

d
If we place a receiving antenna at this point then the signal received
in volts will be
120ht hr I
V
d
where 120 is the characteristic impedance

ht effective height of the transmitting antenna

hr effective height of the receiving antenna

I antenna current

d distance from the transmitting antenna

 wavelength
 when propagation is over a good conductor
such as seawater, at low frequencies, surface
absorption is small, the attenuation is equally
small.
 The angle of tilt is thus the main factor in the
long distance propagation of such a wave.
 The degree of tilt depends on the distance
from the antenna in wavelengths. Low
frequency signals have large wavelengths
c
f 

 Example Problems

At 20 km in free space from a point source, the power

density is 200 W / m . What is the power density at 25
2

km away from this source?

Calculate the power density at
a) 500 m from a 500 W source and
b) 36 000 km from a 3 kW source.
Assume the source to be isotropic
A deep space high gain antenna and receiver system have a noise

figure such that a minimum received power of 3.7  1018 W is

required for satisfactory communication. What must be the

transmitting power from a Jupiter probe, situated 800 million km

from earth? Assume that the transmitting antenna is isotropic and

the equivalent area of the receiving antenna has an area of 8400

m2.
A 150 m antenna transmitting at 1.2 MHz (ground wave), has
an antenna current of 8 A. What voltage is received by the
receiving antenna 40 km away with a height of 2 m?