Chapter 3 

 CHRONOLOGICAL RECORD 



3.1 



COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES 



Tin; C'oMMiTTKK on Propauation was organized 

 in Division 14 of the National Defense Research 

 Committee, in response to an urgent request by Sir 

 Edward Applet on, Director of the Department of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research of Great Britain. 

 This request was specifically for United States 

 cooperation in a more adequate investigation of radio 

 wave propagation. Observed variations of radar 

 coverage and performance over a considerable range 

 of climatic and meteorological conditions had already 

 revealed the need for a thorough understanding of 

 the influences of such conditions on radio wave 

 propagation, particularly at frequencies above 30 mc. 

 Also, the effects of back scattering of radiation from 

 the sea surface (sea return) under various wind and 

 wave conditions and of land surface topographies of 

 various types on radio wave propagation, particu- 

 larly at angles approaching the horizontal, were 

 already known to be serious. These and similar 

 factors had been established by reports from opera- 

 tional installations as having profound significance 

 in the operational employment of radio devices, and 

 the fundamental mechanisms producing these effects 

 were not well understood. 



A preliminary conference on propagation was held 

 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] 

 Radiation Laboratory [RL], July 1 and 2, 1943. A 

 report of this conference was published by the 

 Laboratory. It contained a statement of the general 

 program of investigation held desirable and recom- 

 mendations for setting up a body to coordinate the 

 activities of research agencies with needs of the 

 armed forces and with work on the problem already 

 in progress in Allied countries. This body, which 

 became known as the Committee on Propagation, 

 was organized as explained in Chapter 2, with 

 Dr. Chas. R. Burrows as chairman. 



Dr. Burrows accepted the chairmanship on August 

 24, 1943, proceeded immediately with organization 

 of the full Committee, and began the task of estab- 

 lishing and correlating a program of research. 



Dr. Burrows and Donald E. Kerr, head of the 

 Wave Propagation Group at the Radiation Labora- 

 tory and a member of the Committee on Propaga- 



tion, conferred in Washington on September 2 with 

 Dr. A. F. Murray of NDRC and with Doctors H. 

 Hopkins and W. Ross of the British Central Scientific 

 ( )ffice. A complete set of reports of British work on 

 propagation was available in this office, and this 

 was placed at the disposal of Dr. Burrows and the 

 Committee. The desirability of extending the investi- 

 gation down to 27 mc was discussed in connection 

 with improving the efficiency of certain equipments 

 using those frequencies. 



On September 3, Dr. Burrows and D. E. Kerr con- 

 ferred with Dr. J. A. Stratton in the Office of the 

 Secretary of War regarding Dr. Stratton's serving on 

 the Committee and the possibility of minimizing or 

 eliminating ground return in radar operation at low 

 angles. Comdr. F. W. Reichelderfer, head of the 

 Weather Bureau, was also contacted, and the use of 

 radar in locating storm areas was taken up. 



During the remainder of September the organiza- 

 tion of the Committee was pushed forward, with 

 the result that the names of Stratton, Dellinger, 

 Beverage, and Kerr were formally proposed for 

 membership to the Office of the Chairman, NDRC. 



The first official meeting of the Committee on 

 Propagation was held on October 13, 1943, with the 

 following members and representatives of interested 

 agencies: Dr. Chas. R. Burrows, Chairman; Dr. J. 

 H. Dellinger, Division 13, NDRC; D. E. Kerr, 

 Division 14, NDRC; Dr. H. H. Beverage, Division 

 15, NDRC; Dr. J. A. Stratton, War Department; 

 J. H. Teeter, representing the Chairman, NDRC; 

 Dr. H. G. Hopkins, representing the British Central 

 Scientific Office; and Lt. (jg) J. M. Bridger, repre- 

 senting Captain D. R. Hull of the Navy Depart- 

 ment. 



The field of propagation was reviewed, the specific 

 functions of the Committee were defined, and a list 

 of definite problems for both immediate and longer 

 term consideration was drawn up. It was agreed 

 that the Committee would confine itself to the study 

 of tropospheric propagation, at least at first, with 

 special emphasis on problems of nonstandard 

 propagation. 



On October 15 Professor S. S. Attwood of the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan agreed to assist Dr. Burrows in 

 directing the activities of the Committee. Later 



13 



