DUCT

PROPAGATI
ON
DUCT PROPAGATION

A radio wave propagation technique that allows

the transmission of UHF and VHF electromagnetic
waves through the region near the tropospheric
layer of the atmosphere is known as duct
propagation.

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DUCT PROPAGATION
In duct propagation, despite being
reflected from the ionosphere or
gliding over the surface of the earth,
the waves propagate from an end to
another by undergoing successive
refraction from the troposphere.

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DUCT PROPAGATION
• Duct propagation is also referred as super refraction.
• It allows the propagation of the signals beyond the horizon. This means
that, unlike surface wave propagation, it permits the signal transmission
without assuring the need for having a line of sight distance between the
two antennas.

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Need for duct propagation
• Space wave propagation is used for frequency ranges greater than 30MHz.

• But the major drawback associated with space wave propagation was LOS
communication.

• So, for UHF and VHF signal transmission to an even greater distance, the
duct present in the tropospheric region of the atmosphere is utilized.

• This duct acts as a channel to guide the high-frequency wave to the other
end by successive refraction. 
Atmospheric duct

A region or layer present in the lower

atmosphere, which is a result of temperature inversion. The duct
behaves as a waveguide in the atmosphere and guides the radio
waves along the curvature of the earth thereby allowing the spreading
of wavefronts in a horizontal manner only.

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Atmospheric duct
• Troposphere is extended up to 15 km from the surface of the earth.
• The duct propagation takes place nearly about 50m above the
troposphere.
• Duct propagation occurs in the troposphere and
tropopause(stratosphere) when a duct is formed in the lower layer of
the atmosphere. 
• Duct is nothing but the region of cool air present between the layers
of the warm air.
• The formation of the duct is the outcome of temperature inversion. 

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Temperature inversion
✗ The temperature of stratopause generally remains constant. The region has a
dielectric constant which is somewhat greater than 1 at the surface of the
earth, as it is denser than the region of the upper atmosphere.

✗ On moving upwards as the air density decreases to 0, the dielectric constant

attains unity value.

✗ So, it can be said that dry air has a dielectric constant of more than 1 and the
existence of water vapor enhances the dielectric constant further.

✗ The dielectric constant is dependent on the weather conditions.

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Temperature inversion
✗ In a standard atmosphere, the temperature shows reduction with
height which means with the upward movement in the atmosphere
the dielectric constant must decrease uniformly.

✗ So, this will lead to have unity dielectric constant in the region of
zero air density.

✗ However, practically this standard atmospheric condition shows rare

existence.

✗ The reason behind this is that the air is of turbulent nature, also there
exist different layers of air.
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 Temperature inversion
• These multiple layers of air contain different water vapor contents thus
different temperatures.

• So, the property of significantly having a decrease in temperature with

height gets failed to be achieved.

• This leads to cause the development of an unusual situation in the

atmosphere, where a layer of warm air exists above the cool air.

• This is known as temperature inversion and this gives rise to the

phenomenon of super refraction in the atmosphere.

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TEMPERATURE INVERSION

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Necessary conditions for duct
propagation
• The transmitting antenna must be extended up to the region of the
duct in the atmosphere and

• The angle of incidence of radio waves should be less than the

value of the critical angle.

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Unfavourable effects of duct
propagation
• It results in overestimation of heights measured by radar. When
super-refraction is occurring, a precipitation target is observed at a
higher elevation angle than standard. The beam is closer to the
ground than the standard atmosphere-based charts indicate.
• Since the beam is lower than standard, low-altitude targets that would
ordinarily be below the beam can be detected, as was previously
stated.

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troposcatter

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troposcatter
• Tropospheric scatter, also known as troposcatter, is a method of communicating
with microwave radio signals over considerable distances often up to 300
kilometres, This method of propagation uses the tropospheric scatter phenomenon,
where radio waves at UHF and SHF frequencies are randomly scattered as they pass
through the upper layers of the troposphere.

• Radio signals are transmitted in a narrow beam aimed just above the horizon in the
direction of the receiver station.

• As the signals pass through the troposphere, some of the energy is scattered back
toward the Earth, allowing the receiver station to pick up the signal.

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troposcatter
• Normally, signals in the microwave frequency range travel in straight lines, and
so are limited to line of sight applications, in which the receiver can be 'seen' by
the transmitter. Troposcatter allows microwave communication beyond the
horizon

• Frequencies of transmission around 2 GHz are best suited for tropospheric

scatter systems as at this frequency the wavelength of the signal interacts well
with the moist, turbulent areas of the troposphere, improving 
signal to noise ratios.

• It was developed in the 1950s and used for military communications until 
communications satellites largely replaced it in the 1970s.

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Thanks
!

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