A new approach in modelling EM Wave Propagation in Troposphere using Finite Elements

A finite element based beam propagation method for the analysis and study of electromagnetic wave propagation in the troposphere is presented. An efficient one dimensional form of the helmholtz equation with height dependent refractivity is used to investigate ducting phenomenon. Vertical tropospheric profile characteristics are assigned to each element through the discritization process and the solution is made to advanced using the marching algorithm. Numerous method are available for predicting electromag-netic wave propagation in the atmosphere, e.g., geometric op-tics, physical optics, normal mode analysis, and combinations of the above [1]. However, the presence of vertical refractivit