Radio-Wave Propagation at Oblique Incidence including the Lorentz Polarization Term

The application of the Lorentz theory of dispersion to some problems in the theory of the propagation of radio waves incident obliquely on a plane ionosphere is considered. The true height of reflection, ray path, reflection coefficient, range in the ionosphere, and group path in the ionosphere are studied without introducing the effect of the earth. For both a plane- and curved-earth geometry, the following quantities are determined: ground range, group path, reflection coefficient as a function of the ground range, and the maximum usable frequency. The following restrictions apply to the material presented: (1) all limitations on the Chapman distribution hold; (2) the earth's magnetic field is neglected; (3) the angular operating frequency is assumed to be greater than the collisional frequency wherever appreciable absorption occurs; (4) the absorption per vacuum wavelength is assumed to be small; and (5) ray theory is used.