📻 Radio Wave Propagation

What This Simulation Shows

Radio waves behave very differently depending on their frequency. This simulation visualises the three main propagation modes: ground wave (follows Earth's surface, best at LF/MF), sky wave (refracted by the ionosphere back to Earth, enables long-range HF), and line-of-sight (straight-line, dominates VHF and above).

How to Use

• Switch Frequency Band to see how propagation mode changes — HF enables sky-wave skip, VHF is line-of-sight only.
• Adjust Elevation angle: lower angles favour long-skip sky wave; higher angles may pass through or be absorbed.
• Change F-layer height and density to simulate day/night ionosphere conditions (F-layer descends at night and density rises).
• Enable Multi-hop to see how HF signals can bounce multiple times and reach antipodal distances.

Did You Know?

The ionosphere is ionised by solar UV radiation. During daylight, there are distinct D, E and F layers; at night the D and E layers largely disappear and the F layer rises and strengthens — this is why shortwave radio reception is dramatically better at night, a phenomenon exploited for decades by broadcasters reaching audiences thousands of kilometres away.