Very low frequency because VLF waves are reflected from the bottom of the ionosphere, while higher frequency shortwave signals are returned to Earth from higher layers in the ionosphere, the F1 and F2 layers, by a refraction process, and spend most of their journey in the ionosphere, so they are much more affected by ionization gradients and turbulence. Therefore, VLF transmissions are very stable and reliable, and are used for long distance communication. Propagation distances of 5000 to 20000 km have been realized. However, atmospheric noise (sferics) is high in the band, including such phenomena as "whistlers", caused by lightning. VLF waves can
Atmospheric tide The latitudinal structure of the tides is described by the "horizontal structure equation" which is also called "Laplace's tidal equation": with "Laplace operator" using formula_30, formula_31 and "eigenvalue" Hence, atmospheric tides are eigenoscillations (eigenmodes)of Earth's atmosphere with eigenfunctions formula_33, called Hough functions, and eigenvalues formula_34. The latter define the "equivalent depth" formula_35 which couples the latitudinal structure of the tides with their vertical structure. Longuet-Higgins has completely solved Laplace's equations and has discovered tidal modes with negative eigenvalues ε (Figure 2). There exist two kinds of waves: class 1 waves, (sometimes called gravity waves), labelled by positive n, and class