What is the skip distance in sky waves?

What is the skip distance in sky waves?

• A. The distance from the transmitter to where the wave bounces off the ionosphere and returns to Earth.
• B. The distance the wave travels in free space between transmitter and ionosphere.
• C. The distance from the ionosphere to the Earth's surface.
• D. The distance the wave travels in the ionosphere without reflection.

Answer: (A)

Skip distance is the ground distance from the transmitter to the point on Earth where a sky wave, after being reflected by the ionosphere, arrives back at Earth's surface. The radio wave goes up, hits the ionosphere, is reflected, and then comes down at a location farther away from the transmitter. That ground range—the distance along the surface to where the signal lands after the reflection—is the skip distance. It depends on the height of the ionospheric reflection and the angle at which the wave is transmitted; higher reflection height or a steeper incidence angle increases this distance. The described distance captures this surface path from the transmitter to the landfall point after reflection.

Skip distance is the ground distance from the transmitter to the point on Earth where a sky wave, after being reflected by the ionosphere, arrives back at Earth's surface. The radio wave goes up, hits the ionosphere, is reflected, and then comes down at a location farther away from the transmitter. That ground range—the distance along the surface to where the signal lands after the reflection—is the skip distance. It depends on the height of the ionospheric reflection and the angle at which the wave is transmitted; higher reflection height or a steeper incidence angle increases this distance. The described distance captures this surface path from the transmitter to the landfall point after reflection.