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Estimating Harmful Levels of Radio-Frequency Radiation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Patrick C. Crane  and
Lynne A. Hillenbrand
Patrick C. Crane
Affiliation:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory1
Lynne A. Hillenbrand
Affiliation:
National Radio Astronomy Observatory1

Extract

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Determining whether a particular radio transmitter will produce harmful levels of radio-frequency radiation at a location of interest (the “receiver,” be it a nearby home or a distant radio telescope), has two steps. The first is to determine which standard for harm applies: Section II reviews those for human exposure, for interference with electronic devices, for interference with optical and infrared astronomy, and for interference with radio astronomy.

The second step is to estimate the propagation losses between the transmitter and the “receiver.” Many factors, several highly time variable, contribute to such losses - including atmospheric refraction, diffraction by obstacles, tropospheric scattering, and atmospheric absorption - and are discussed in Section III.

Type
Radio Frequency Interference
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 112: Light Pollution, Radio Interference, and Space Debris , 1991 , pp. 258 - 266
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1991

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