Propagation constant a conductor. The skin effect causes R along the conductor to be approximately dependent on frequency according to Losses in the dielectric depend on the loss tangent (tan "δ") of the material divided by the wavelength of the signal. Thus they are directly proportional to the frequency. The attenuation constant for a particular propagation mode in an optical fiber is the real part of the axial propagation constant. In electromagnetic theory, the phase constant, also called phase change constant, parameter or coefficient is the imaginary component of the propagation constant for a plane wave. It represents the change in phase
Skip distance Skip distance A skip distance is the distance a radio wave travels, usually including a hop in the ionosphere. A skip distance is a distance on the Earth's surface between the two points where radio waves from a transmitter, refracted downwards by different layers of the ionosphere, fall. It also represents how far a radio wave has travelled per hop on the Earth's surface, for radio waves such as the short wave (SW) radio signals that employ continuous reflections for transmission. Radio waves from a particular transmitting antenna do not all get refracted by a particular layer of the ionosphere;