Abstract
WITH the introduction of radio waves a few metres in wave-length in the years before the Second World War, and of centimetric waves during the War, entirely new meteorological effects on propagation have come to light. The first of these is the variable, non-rectilinear propagation of metric and centimetric waves through the lower atmosphere, the range of such waves over the earth's surface often far exceeding the geometrical horizon of the transmitter. Ionospheric reflexion plays no part in this propagation, for in the wave-lengths concerned penetration of the ionosphere is almost or quite complete. The second major phenomenon is the strong reflexion and attenuation of the shorter of these waves by suspended water drops or snow crystals when present in sufficient density in or beneath a cloud. Much of the knowledge acquired on these phenomena during the War was described and discussed at a joint conference of the Royal Meteorological Society and the Physical Society held at the Royal Institution on April 8.
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SHEPPARD, P. RADIO METEOROLOGY: INFLUENCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE ON THE PROPAGATION OF ULTRA-SHORT RADIO WAVES. Nature 157, 860–862 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/157860a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/157860a0