Wave Propagation in an Inhomogeneous Atmosphere Using the Fresnel-Kirchhoff Approximation

In the present work, an approach is presented to predict the propagation loss in areas where the index of refraction of the atmosphere changes with height and distance. In this approach, the terrain profile and refractive index profiles are discretized in distance and in height and the sum of the terrain and morphology heights at each profile distance is modelled as a phase and/or absorbing half-screen. Physical optics (PO) is then used to evaluate the diffracting field at the receiver by using the Fresnel-Kirchhoff integration for each absorbing half-screen combination.