2. INTRODUCTION
Wave propagation in a transmission line refers to the
movement of an electromagnetic wave along the line.
When a voltage is applied to the input of the
transmission line, an electromagnetic wave is
generated that travels along the line, carrying energy
and information.
Figure 1: Wave Propagation
3. PROPAGATION
i) Ground Propagation:
• In the ground propagation, the electromagnetic wave is
propagated close to the atmosphere i.e. between ionosphere and
earth surface.
• These electromagnetic waves are the low-frequency waves
transmitted in all direction and
• The wave follows the curvature of the earth.
• More the power of the signal longer the distance it travels.
The unguided media propagates electromagnetic wave from source to
destination in three methods.
Figure 2: Ground
Propagation
4. Advantages of Ground Wave Propagation
• The factor of large wavelength supports efficient
bending thereby causing less attenuation.
• The signal loss due to atmospheric conditions is less.
Disadvantages of Ground Wave Propagation
• The distance between the transmitting and receiving
end must not be very large.
• The operational frequency range is limited to up to
2MHz.
Applications
• Television signal broadcasting, target detection for
military purposes, radio signal transmission, and in all
such applications those require a distance of operation in
the local range.
5. ii) Sky wave Propagation:
• In sky propagation, the electromagnetic wave with a
higher frequency is radiated up in the ionosphere from
the source transmitter antenna which gets reflected back
to the earth surface.
• In sky propagation, the electromagnetic wave travel a
longer distance and it can be received thousands of
Kilometres away from the transmitter.
Figure 3: Sky wave Propagation
6. Advantages of sky wave propagation
• The frequency range of operation is considerably high.
• Attenuation due to atmospheric conditions is less.
• It supports large distance propagation.
Disadvantages of sky wave propagation
• Long-distance propagation requires large-sized
antennas.
• Due to the presence of the ionosphere, near and far
during night and day respectively there exist variation
in signal transmission in day and night.
Applications
• Sky wave propagation is widely used in mobile and
satellite communications as it needs suitable
atmospheric conditions.
7. Features of Line of Sight Propagation
• Space wave propagation is commonly used for
short-range radio communication.
• Space wave propagation is also used for satellite
communication.
• The maximum range is approximately
40kilometres for radio waves at 100 MHz.
• Space wave propagation is used in a wide
variety of applications, including television
broadcasting, mobile phones, wireless LANs,
and remote sensing.
8. iii) Line of Sight Propagation:
• In the line of sight propagation the electromagnetic wave
with very high frequency is transmitted in the
“straight-line” direction from the transmitter antenna to
the receiver antenna.
• In this way, the electromagnetic wave does not get
affected by the curvature of the earth because the
transmitter and receiver antenna are either tall or close
enough to maintain the line of sight.
Figure 4: Line of Sight Propagation
