The Radiation Problem from a Vertical Short Dipole Antenna Above Flat and Lossy Ground: Comparison of Exact Analytical Solutions with Empirical Terrain Propagation Models and Investigation of Surface Waves

The results of a recently introduced novel solution to the well-known ‘Sommerfeld radiation problem’ are compared to those obtained through the classical Sommerfeld formulation. The method is novel in that it is entirely performed in the frequency domain, yielding simple integral expressions for the received Electromagnetic (EM) field and also in that they can end up into closed-form analytic formulas applicable to high frequencies. In this paper we compare our analytical results with existing theoretical calculations found in the literature, based on the Sommerfeld formulation. The above comparison shows good agreement in the corresponding numerical results. Furthermore, a comparison of the method to the well-known Okumura-Hata empirical model is performed in an attempt to roughly estimate the extent to which the proposed model is suitable for real-environment EM field calculations. Finally, preliminary investigations by our research group on the behaviour of the surface waves will be presented.