On 6 Dec 2006 01:32:55 -0800, "DC" wrote:

Basically I have been told that shorter wavelength waves attenuate and
scatter more easily.

Hi OM,

As a generality, this is true; but generalities that are this
all-encompassing don't actually explain anything. Scattering is
dependant upon what is doing the actual scattering, and this
dependency is related to its size in terms of the wavelength.

So working on this principle

This is your first mistake because the generality is NOT a principle.
We will skip the remaining presumptions.

If anyone could shed any light on this topic for me it would be really
appreciated.

Light (as in illumination) will serve this purpose too, because it is
shortwaved (by a million fold or more) and yet it confounds many of
those presumptions that I discarded above.

Attenuation can by one of two ways. The energy can be consumed along
the way, or it can be diverted (scattered) which to the observer
amounts to the same thing - less light (or RF or waves or
what-have-you).

Scattering is a little more sophisticated in that the path along which
the energy was directed, changes (and sometimes, so does the
wavelength). Scattering will also offer other opportunistic modes
such as diffraction, reflection, refraction (a whole list of shuns).
You should note that a partial reflection of light, to the observer,
will appear to be attenuation. Further, through diffractions the
original wave may appear to become multiple sources of the same
energy, but with different phases. When those phases combine, the
observer may yet again perceive an attenuation.

To tie this all together, wavelength will determine if the scattering
body is suitable large/small to lend an effect to the observer. This
is why through your list of wavelengths there appeared to be unusual
distinctions. Those distinctions were the properties of the medium or
the interfering bodies (scatterers) - not the source wavelength, per
se. These properties fall into the studies of chromatography,
spectroscopy, and so on (which have their equivalents at all
wavelengths, but are suitable more for the optical wavelengths).

One excellent example is in the InfraRed region where water vapor
selectively scatters, absorbs or transmits various wavelengths in a
small band of frequencies. Water vapor will also do similar tricks in
the 2GHz region.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC