Question

What is space wave propagation? State its three components.

Answer 1

Hint: Space wave propagation is regarding the radio waves. Radio waves are one of the electromagnetic waves. These waves are used for communication purposes. The three components are the three ways in which the radio waves can propagate.

Complete answer:
The radio waves are transmitted from one place to another in order to communicate between places. This process is through antennas. It consists of a transmitting antenna that transmits the radio waves and a receiving antenna that receives the transmitted radio waves on the other sides.

Now, the radio waves can propagate from the transmitter to the receiver in different ways. And this radio wave propagation is called space wave propagation. Let us now discuss the three components of space wave propagation. The three components are the three ways in which the radio waves can propagate.
1) Direct wave: The transmitted radio waves can reach the receiver directly through the air without interacting with anything. This type of wave is called a direct wave.
2) Ground reflected wave: When a wave falls on an obstacle, it reflects at the surface. Therefore, the radio waves can reach the receiver after reflecting from the ground. This type of wave is called ground reflected wave.
3) Sky reflected wave: When the radio waves reach the receiver after reflecting at the troposphere or other layers of atmosphere, the wave is called a tropospheric wave.

Note: Troposphere is the layer of atmosphere nearest to the ground. The other layers of atmosphere are Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Exosphere. Not that not all the waves are reflecting at the layers. Some of the waves are reflected and the remaining are penetrate the layers.