A Vector Parabolic Equation Method for Propagation Predictions Over 3-D Irregular Terrains

In this paper, a vector parabolic equation (PE) method based on perfectly absorbing thin screen is applied to predicting the propagation of electromagnetic waves over three-dimensional (3-D) irregular terrains. Under the assumption of forward propagation, the 3-D PE is obtained and the split-step Fourier transform algorithm is adopted to march the potentials from one aperture plane to the next. Terrains are equivalent to a series of perfectly absorbing thin screens arranged along the direction of propagation and the Tukey window is used to attenuate the fields smoothly at the upper boundary without reflections. Finally, in order to validate the proposed method, several numerical simulations are made and the results are compared with the two-dimensional PE method. As a result, good agreements are observed and the proposed method was confirmed to take the effect of lateral terrains into account.