2-1
CHAPTER 2
RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this unit, you should be able to:
1. State what the electromagnetic field is and what components make up the electromagnetic field.
2. State the difference between the induction field and the radiation field.
3. State what radio waves are.
4. List the components of a radio wave and define the terms cycle, frequency, harmonics, period,
wavelength, and velocity as applied to radio wave propagation.
5. Compute the wavelength of radio waves.
6. State how radio waves are polarized, vertically and horizontally.
7. State what reflection, refraction, and diffraction are as applied to radio waves.
8. State what influence the Earth's atmosphere has on radio waves and list the different layers of the
Earth's atmosphere.
9. Identify a ground wave, a sky wave, and state the effects of the ionosphere on the sky wave.
10. Identify the structure of the ionosphere.
11. Define density of layer, frequency, angle of incidence, skip distance, and skip zone.
12. Describe propagation paths.
13. Describe fading, multipath fading, and selective fading. Describe propagation paths.
14. State how transmission losses affect radio wave propagation.
15. State how electromagnetic interference, man-made/natural interference, and ionospheric
disturbances affect radio wave propagation. State how transmission losses affect radio wave
propagation.
16. Identify variations in the ionosphere.
17. Identify the maximum, optimum, and lowest usable frequencies of radio waves.
18. State what temperature inversion is, how frequency predictions are made, and how weather affects
frequency.
19. State what tropospheric scatter is and how it affects radio wave propagation.
