Long-Range Propagation of Low-Frequency Radio Waves between the Earth and the Ionosphere

The problem of modes of propagation of electromagnetic waves between a perfectly conducting earth and a gradually varying ionosphere is considered. The case of exponentially varying ionospheric parameters is solved in terms of Bessel functions. The propagation constant, the angle of arrival and the group velocity are calculated for the first few modes of propagation. It is shown that the results for the phase and group velocities and angle of arrival of low-order modes obtained when the ionosphere is assumed to be a perfectly conducting sheet at a height simply related to ionospheric parameters are very close to the true values. An application of this theory to the propagation of "tweeks" is discussed.