An investigation of wave propagation over irregular terrain and urban streets using finite elements

A method to model electromagnetic wave propagation in troposphere on irregular terrain in the presence of height dependant refractivity is presented using finite element analysis. In this work, the helmholtz equation applied on radiowave propagation properly manipulated and simplified using pade approximation is solved using finite element method. Paraxial form of helmholtz equation is also called wide angle formulation of parabolic equation (WPEM) and is used because of its accuracy and behavior on large propagation angles. By using this method, horizontal and vertical tropospheric characteristics are assigned to every element, and different refractivity and terrain profiles can be entered at different stages. We also consider wave propagation on an urban street to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.