A Ray Trace Model for Propagation Loss

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the feasibility of replacing the optical-region propagation model currently assessing the effect of lower atmosphere refraction on electromagnetic (EM) system performance within the Engineer's Refractive Effects Prediction System (EREPS) with a complete ray trace model. The ray trace model uses a full ray trace solution to describe the propagation environment. It is implemented in a Microsoft QuickBASIC program intended for IBM-compatible personal computers. The ray trace model can determine propagation loss under certain conditions, but it resolves ray paths with increasing difficulty when the EM system frequency rises, and it produces large divergence factors. Since attempts to eliminate fluctuations in the ray trace divergence factors have failed, the study's results argue that the ray trace model is not suitable for EREPS.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1993
Accession Number
ADA266314

Entities

People

  • C. P. Hattan

Organizations

  • Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Computers
  • Diffraction
  • Electric Fields
  • Environment
  • Equations
  • Frequency
  • Grazing Angles
  • Ocean Surveillance
  • Optics
  • Personal Computers
  • Polarization
  • Refraction
  • Refractive Index
  • Standards
  • Transmitters
  • Water Vapor

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Computer Science.
  • Wave Propagation and Nonlinear Chaotic Dynamics.