Excitation of an infinite antenna above a dissipative earth

Abstract

The antenna problem consisting of exciting an infinitely long horizontal thin wire with an arbitrary distribution of impressed electric field along the axis of the wire is discussed. The special case of excitation by a delta function voltage source is solved. The current on the antenna is found as a sum of two residue (discrete) contributions and two branch integration (continuous) contributions. The far field and orthogonality properties of both the discrete and continuous modes are discussed. Finally, expressions are given for the current on the antenna. From this current the input conductance of the antenna can be obtained.