Ionospheric reflection is a bending, through a complex process involving reflection and refraction, of electromagnetic waves propagating in the ionosphere back toward the Earth.
The amount of bending depends on the extent of penetration (which is a function of frequency), the angle of incidence, polarization of the wave, and ionospheric conditions, such as the ionization density. It is negatively affected by incidents of ionospheric absorption.
This article incorporates public domain material from the General Services Administration document "Federal Standard 1037C".
Famous quotes containing the word reflection:
“Water. Its sunny track in the plain; its splashing in the garden canal, the sound it makes when in its course it meets the mane of the grass; the diluted reflection of the sky together with the fleeting sight of the reeds; the Negresses fill their dripping gourds and their red clay containers; the song of the washerwomen; the gorged fields the tall crops ripening.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)