Ground wave propagation

"When the radio waves from the transmitting antenna propagate along the surface of the earth so as to reach the receiving antenna, the wave propagation is called Ground Wave or surface wave propagation"

Ground Wave propagation is a method of radio frequency propagation that uses the area between the surface of the earth and the ionosphere for transmission. The ground wave can propagate a considerable distance over the earth's surface particularly in the low frequency and medium frequency portion of the radio spectrum. Ground wave radio propagation is used to provide relatively local radio communications coverage.

Ground wave radio signal propagation is ideal for relatively short distance propagation on these frequencies during the daytime. Sky-wave ionospheric propagation is not possible during the day because of the attenuation of the signals on these frequencies caused by the D region in the ionosphere. In view of this, lower frequency radio communications stations need to rely on the ground-wave propagation to achieve their coverage.

Typically, what is referred to as a ground wave radio signal is made up of a number of constituent waves. If the antennas are in the line of sight then there will be a direct wave as well as a reflected signal. As the names suggest the direct signal is one that travels directly between the two antennas and is not affected by the locality. There will also be a reflected signal as the transmission will be reflected by a number of objects including the earth's surface and any hills, or large buildings that may be present. In addition to this there is a surface wave. This tends to follow the curvature of the Earth and enables coverage beyond the horizon. It is the sum of all these components that is known as the ground wave. Beyond the horizon the direct and reflected waves are blocked by the curvature of the Earth, and the signal is purely made up of the diffracted surface wave. It is for this reason that surface wave is commonly called ground wave propagation.

The radio signal spreads out from the transmitter along the surface of the Earth. Instead of just travelling in a straight line the radio signals tend to follow the curvature of the Earth. This is because currents are induced in the surface of the earth and this action slows down the wave-front in this region, causing the wave-front of the radio communications signal to tilt downwards towards the Earth. With the wave-front tilted in this direction it is able to curve around the Earth and be received well beyond the horizon.

As the wavefront of the ground wave travels along the Earth's surface it is attenuated. The degree of attenuation is dependent upon a variety of factors. Frequency of the radio signal is one of the major determining factor as losses rise with increasing frequency. As a result, it makes this form of propagation impracticable above the bottom end of the HF portion of the spectrum (3 MHz). Typically a signal at 3.0 MHz will suffer an attenuation that may be in the region of 20 to 60 dB more than one at 0.5 MHz dependent upon a variety of factors in the signal path including the distance. In view of this it can be seen why even high power HF radio broadcast stations may only be audible for a few miles from the transmitting site via the ground wave.

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Wikipedia