Near-field and far-field behavior of the field radiated by a vertically oriented dipole antenna above imperfectly conducting earth

In this paper we study the far-field behavior of a vertically oriented antenna above imperfectly conducting ground. The goal of this paper is to show that when an antenna in placed on the ground, the radiation pattern of the antenna has multiple peaks and nulls which increases with the height of the antenna above ground. The far-field as a result starts at a distance proportional to the height of the antenna above ground plane which is further away than the far-field of the isolated antenna in free space. The concept of height-gain and its misleading interpretation is also discussed.