An investigation of tropospheric wave propagation using finite elements

A method to model electromagnetic wave propagation in troposphere in the presence of height-dependant refractivity is presented, using Finite Element Method. An efficient one dimensional form of the helmholtz equation with height dependent refractivity is used to model radio wave propagation in troposphere. By using this approach, vertical tropospheric profile characteristics are assigned to every element, while solution advances in small variable or constant range steps, each excited by the solution of the previous step. We also implement some abnormal environmental conditions to assess our method, and investigate ducting phenomena in troposphere.