PARABOLIC EQUATION MODELING IN HORIZONTALLY INHOMOGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS

A parabolic equation (PE) model has been developed for use in tropospheric radiowave propagation. A simple technique to model range-dependent environments has been implemented. Results from the model are compared with experimental data at 170, 520, 3240, 3300, and 9875 MHz in measured range-dependent environments. The experimental data are taken from two separate experiments performed during 1947 and 1948. Measurements were made on overwater paths from Guadalupe Island to San Diego, CA, in one experiment, and the other was located in the South Island of New Zealand, also known as the Canterbury Project. The results are presented as one-way propagation factor in decibels versus height. The technique used here to model range-dependent environments is shown to give a reasonably good estimate of the environment between measurements, leading to excellent agreement between the predicted fields and observed radio data.