Ground-Wave Path Loss Over Ice-Covered Sea at Frequencies between 0.1 and 10 MHz

Abstract : The ground-wave attenuation function has been studied for an involving propagation over an ice-covered sea surface. A review of the techniques that can be used in the analysis of a multilayer ground is presented, and a number of practical sea-ice paths are evaluated numerically. Results are presented for the 0.1 to 10 MHz frequency range and consist of curves showing propagation loss as a function of distance for various ice thicknesses. It is shown that the variation of the attenuation function with distance and with frequency is significantly different than for the open ocean case. A range of frequencies over which path loss is predicted to be less than for seawater only is dependent on the path length and is shown to lie in the medium frequency range. Keywords: Ground waves(Electromagnetic); Arctic communication; Electromagnetic propagation over ice.