Nonsinusoidal waves - When to use them

The use of nonsinusoidal electromagnetic waves is reviewed in a nonmathematical survey of the state of the art, areas of application, and possible improvements over conventional techniques. The paper investigates where conventional theory assumes the need for a small relative bandwidth, running into obstacles caused by nature, and where the assumption of an essentially pure sinusoidal wave with no absolute bandwidth is needlessly made. Resolution and beam forming for high-resolution, all-weather radar are shown to be excellent applications, and despite the large relative bandwidth, the attenuation in the band from 0.5-10.5 varies by 3 dB for heavy fog.