Electromagnetic Waves in Stratified Media

This book [1] was written at an important point in the development of applications of electromagnetic (radio) waves to communications, navigation, and remote sensing. Such applications require accurate propagation predictions for a variety of path conditions, and this book provides the theoretical basis for such predictions. The book is based on fundamental research in electromagnetic wave propagation that James R. Wait performed in the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory (CRPL) of NBS from 1956 to 1962. The mathematical theory in the book is very general, and the “stratified media” models are applicable to the earth crust, the troposphere, and the ionosphere. The frequencies of the communication, navigation, and remote sensing applications treated in this book range all the way from extremely low frequencies (ELF) to microwaves. The mathematical theory of electromagnetic wave propagation is based on Maxwell’s equations [2], formulated by James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860s. Experimental propagation studies in free space [3] and over the earth [4] also go back over 100 years. Research in radio science, standards, and measurements began in NBS in the early 1900s, and the long history of radio in NBS has been thoroughly covered by Snyder and Bragaw [5]. CRPL was moved to Boulder in 1954, and Wait joined the organization in 1955. The mathematics of electromagnetic wave propagation in stratified (layered) media is very complicated, and progress in propagation theory in the early 1900s was fairly slow. Wait’s book [1] included the most useful theory (much of which he developed) and practical applications that were available in 1962. A hallmark