Terrestrial stationary waves
Encyclopedia
Terrestrial stationary waves is a persistent spherical conductor
“single-wire” surface wave
electrical
transmission line
phenomenon arising across the Earth
's surface by virtue of the highly conductive nature of the earth itself. It was considered by Nikola Tesla
to be his most important discovery. Earth's surface constitutes an interface that supports the wave.
On July 3, 1899, Tesla claimed discovery of this new geo-electrical phenomenon, which he said would allow for the transmission of electrical energy around the world.
Terrestrial stationary waves were first observed by Tesla and formed the basis for his plans regarding the transmission of electrical energy without wires for the purposes of simultaneous point-to-point telecommunications, broadcasting
, and the transmission of electrical power
.
's action as a waveguide
. The limited dimensions of the earth cause this waveguide to act as a resonant cavity for electromagnetic waves. The cavity is naturally excited by energy from lightning
strikes. The Schumann Resonance
is a set of terrestrial stationary waves in the extremely low frequency (ELF) portion of the Earth's electromagnetic field spectrum. Lower frequencies and those at or below longwave bands travel most efficiently as a longitudinal wave and create stationary waves. The ionosphere and the Earth's surface constitute an interface that supports the wave. This resonant cavity is a particular standing wave
pattern formed by waves confined in the cavity. The waves correspond to the wavelengths which are reinforced by constructive interference after many reflections from the cavity's reflecting surfaces.
The transfer of electrical energy with small losses in this manner is problematic because the standing wave would occur in the earth-ionosphere cavity, which is too lossy to enable a standing wave of sufficient amplitude to be generated. This limitation is independent of the power of the transmitter. In order for the transmitter to feed power to the receiver as efficiently as it would in a closed low-loss circuit, the power transferred to the receiver should be able to transfer power of the same order of magnitude reciprocally back to the transmitter. This is a necessary condition for the transmitter to “feel” the load connected to the receiver and to supply power to it via the standing wave. In order to do this, the required Q of the earth-ionosphere cavity would have to be on the order of 10^6 or so at the lowest Schumann frequency of about 7.3 Hz. Measurements based on the spectrum of natural electrical radio noise yield a Q of only about 5 to 10. [Henry Bradford]
Regarding this recent notion of power transmission through the earth-ionosphere cavity, a consideration of the earth-ionosphere or concentric spherical shell waveguide propagation parameters as they are known today shows that wireless power transmission by direct excitation of a Schumann cavity resonance mode is not realizable.
Furthermore, the maximum recommended operating frequencies of 25 kHz as specified by Tesla is far above the highest easily observable Schumann resonance mode (the 9th overtone) that exists at approximately 66.4 Hz. Tesla's selection of 25 kHz is wholly inconsistent with the operation of a system that is based upon the direct excitation of a Schumann resonance mode.
Electrical conductor
In physics and electrical engineering, a conductor is a material which contains movable electric charges. In metallic conductors such as copper or aluminum, the movable charged particles are electrons...
“single-wire” surface wave
Surface wave
In physics, a surface wave is a mechanical wave that propagates along the interface between differing media, usually two fluids with different densities. A surface wave can also be an electromagnetic wave guided by a refractive index gradient...
electrical
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
transmission line
Transmission line
In communications and electronic engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable designed to carry alternating current of radio frequency, that is, currents with a frequency high enough that its wave nature must be taken into account...
phenomenon arising across the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
's surface by virtue of the highly conductive nature of the earth itself. It was considered by Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
to be his most important discovery. Earth's surface constitutes an interface that supports the wave.
On July 3, 1899, Tesla claimed discovery of this new geo-electrical phenomenon, which he said would allow for the transmission of electrical energy around the world.
Terrestrial stationary waves were first observed by Tesla and formed the basis for his plans regarding the transmission of electrical energy without wires for the purposes of simultaneous point-to-point telecommunications, broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, and the transmission of electrical power
Wireless energy transfer
Wireless energy transfer or wireless power is the transmission of electrical energy from a power source to an electrical load without artificial interconnecting conductors. Wireless transmission is useful in cases where interconnecting wires are inconvenient, hazardous, or impossible...
.
Schumann resonance hypothesis
It has been suggested this phenomenon arises in the Earth's interior space because of the conductive ionosphereIonosphere
The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere...
's action as a waveguide
Waveguide
A waveguide is a structure which guides waves, such as electromagnetic waves or sound waves. There are different types of waveguides for each type of wave...
. The limited dimensions of the earth cause this waveguide to act as a resonant cavity for electromagnetic waves. The cavity is naturally excited by energy from lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
strikes. The Schumann Resonance
Schumann resonance
The Schumann resonances are a set of spectrum peaks in the extremely low frequency portion of the Earth's electromagnetic field spectrum...
is a set of terrestrial stationary waves in the extremely low frequency (ELF) portion of the Earth's electromagnetic field spectrum. Lower frequencies and those at or below longwave bands travel most efficiently as a longitudinal wave and create stationary waves. The ionosphere and the Earth's surface constitute an interface that supports the wave. This resonant cavity is a particular standing wave
Standing wave
In physics, a standing wave – also known as a stationary wave – is a wave that remains in a constant position.This phenomenon can occur because the medium is moving in the opposite direction to the wave, or it can arise in a stationary medium as a result of interference between two waves traveling...
pattern formed by waves confined in the cavity. The waves correspond to the wavelengths which are reinforced by constructive interference after many reflections from the cavity's reflecting surfaces.
The transfer of electrical energy with small losses in this manner is problematic because the standing wave would occur in the earth-ionosphere cavity, which is too lossy to enable a standing wave of sufficient amplitude to be generated. This limitation is independent of the power of the transmitter. In order for the transmitter to feed power to the receiver as efficiently as it would in a closed low-loss circuit, the power transferred to the receiver should be able to transfer power of the same order of magnitude reciprocally back to the transmitter. This is a necessary condition for the transmitter to “feel” the load connected to the receiver and to supply power to it via the standing wave. In order to do this, the required Q of the earth-ionosphere cavity would have to be on the order of 10^6 or so at the lowest Schumann frequency of about 7.3 Hz. Measurements based on the spectrum of natural electrical radio noise yield a Q of only about 5 to 10. [Henry Bradford]
Regarding this recent notion of power transmission through the earth-ionosphere cavity, a consideration of the earth-ionosphere or concentric spherical shell waveguide propagation parameters as they are known today shows that wireless power transmission by direct excitation of a Schumann cavity resonance mode is not realizable.
Furthermore, the maximum recommended operating frequencies of 25 kHz as specified by Tesla is far above the highest easily observable Schumann resonance mode (the 9th overtone) that exists at approximately 66.4 Hz. Tesla's selection of 25 kHz is wholly inconsistent with the operation of a system that is based upon the direct excitation of a Schumann resonance mode.