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Line of sight (LoS) propagation from an antenna. Line-of-sight propagation is a characteristic of electromagnetic radiation or acoustic wave propagation which means waves can only travel in a direct visual path from the source to the receiver without obstacles. [1] Electromagnetic transmission includes light emissions traveling in a straight line.
The frequency of radio waves used by most radars, in the form of microwaves, propagate in straight lines.This generally limits the detection range of radar systems to objects on their horizon (generally referred to as "line of sight" since the aircraft must be at least theoretically visible to a person at the location and elevation of the radar transmitter) due to the curvature of the Earth.
Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. [1]: 26‑1 As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affected by the phenomena of reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, polarization, and scattering. [2]
Without taking into account the refraction through the atmosphere, the radar horizon would be the geometrical distance from the radar to the horizon only taking into account the height of the radar above sea-level, and the radius of the earth (approximately 6.4·10 3 km):
The two-rays ground-reflection model is a multipath radio propagation model which predicts the path losses between a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna when they are in line of sight (LOS). Generally, the two antenna each have different height. The received signal having two components, the LOS component and the reflection component ...
Diagram showing displacement of the Sun's image at sunrise and sunset Comparison of inferior and superior mirages due to differing air refractive indices, n. Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other electromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of height. [1]
Prior to World War II, prevailing radio physics theory predicted a relationship between frequency and diffraction that suggested radio signals would follow the curvature of the Earth, but that the strength of the effect would fall off rapidly and especially at higher frequencies. In spite of this widespread belief, during the war there were ...
Skywave propagation on the sunlit side of the Earth can be entirely disrupted during sudden ionospheric disturbances. Because the lower-altitude layers (the E-layer in particular) of the ionosphere largely disappear at night, the refractive layer of the ionosphere is much higher above the surface of the Earth at night. This leads to an increase ...