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ground wave
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Diagram showing how radio waves travel beyond the horizon: one path follows the Earth's surface as a ground wave, while another, the sky wave, bounces off the ionosphere and returns to Earth.
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ground wave

physics
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Diagram showing how radio waves travel beyond the horizon: one path follows the Earth's surface as a ground wave, while another, the sky wave, bounces off the ionosphere and returns to Earth.
ionospheric reflection Figure 5: Radio-wave transmission reaching beyond line of sight by means of the sky wave reflected by the ionosphere and by means of the ground wave (see text).

A ground wave is a radio wave that travels along the surface of the Earth. These waves were first used in 1925. The term "ground wave" refers to both a single wave and multiple waves.1

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3 Britannica Sources
  1. ground wave
  2. climate - Propagation and development of waves
  3. seismograph

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