Polarization
Apart from the frequency, another important characteristic of an electromagnetic wave is its
polarization. Broadly speaking, the polarization indicates the plane in which the wave is vibrating.
In view of the fact that electromagnetic waves consist of electric and magnetic components in
different planes, it is necessary to define a convention. Accordingly, the polarization plane is taken
to be that of the electric component.
The polarization of a radio wave can be very important, because antennas are sensitive to
polarization and generally only receive or transmit a signal with a particular polarization . For
most antennas it is very easy to determine the polarization; it is simply in the same plane as the
elements of the antenna. Thus ...