Trans-Horizon Microwave Propagation over Hilly Terrain

By introducing three path parameters into the geometry of scattered signal transmission, the spherical earth formulas of W. E. Gordon were extended to the nonspherical earth case. This paper describes the result of analysis. The nonspherical earth formulas were applied to the prediction of the signal power and characteristics of tropospheric scattered fields on the hilly 93-mile path between Ithaca and Wethersfield-Springs, N.Y., and on the 119-mile path between Ithaca and Buffalo, N.Y. The transmission experiments over these two paths were conducted at Cornell University, at frequencies of 2,780 mc and 9,150 mc. The results of the experiments are presented together with the predictions in this paper.