The transmission of electric waves around the Earth's surface

The transmission of wireless signals to very great distances, and certain other phenomena associated with wireless telegraphy, have been ascribed by several writers to the presence of a conducting layer in the upper atmosphere. Such a layer, if it were conducting in the ordinary sense, would act as a screen in respect of electrical effects which had their origin external to the layer, and further, as has been shown, electrical disturbances set up in the space between the conducting layer and the earth’s surface would subside so slowly that the time required to establish an approximately steady state would be very great. It appears natural, therefore, to assume that, if there is reflexion from the upper atmosphere, there must also be radiation through it to allow a steady state to be attained in a comparatively short time, and the simplest hypothesis consistent with this is that the upper atmosphere differs from the lower atmosphere in respect of the constants involved in the propagation of electrical effects through the atmosphere, viz., the specific inductive capacity and the magnetic permeability. It is proposed to investigate on this hypothesis the condition that a steady state of electrical oscillation can be established in the lower atmosphere in a comparatively short time, and the distribution of electric and magnetic forces on the earth’s surface due to a simple oscillator near to the surface when this condition is satisfied.