Surface wave

From Exampleproblems

In physics, a surface wave is a wave that is guided along the interface between two different media for a mechanical wave, or by a refractive index gradient for an electromagnetic wave. The surface wave is also known as the Norton surface wave, the Zenneck wave or the gliding wave.

A surface wave, in this sense, has a wavelength that is too short to propagate freely in the less dense medium. It is bound to the surface. The term has also been used in over-the-horizon radar to describe waves propagating over an ocean, even when they are approximated by Airy functions and are more properly called creeping waves.

1 Examples
2 Applications in telecommunications
3 People
4 Journals
5 External articles

Examples

An example is the waves at the surface of water and air, ocean surface waves, or ripples in the sand on the interface of water or wind. Longitudinal and transverse motions of the surface particles combine to undergo a circular motion. As the depth into the water increases, the radius of the circles decreases. See: Animation of surface water wave. Another example is internal waves, waves that are transmitted along the interface of two water masses of different densities. In seismology, several types of surface waves are encountered. See seismic wave.

Applications in telecommunications

Application of this phenomena include:

The field components of the wave diminish with distance from the interface.
Optical energy is not converted from the surface wave field to another form of energy and the wave does not have a component directed normal to the interface surface.
In optical fiber transmission, evanescent waves are surface waves.
In radio transmission, ground waves are surface waves that propagate close to the surface of the Earth, the Earth having one refractive index and the atmosphere another, thus constituting an interface surface.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C in support of MIL-STD-188