Band name

Abbreviation

Tremendously low
frequency

TLF

Extremely low
frequency

ELF

ITU
band

Super low
frequency

SLF

Ultra low
frequency

ULF

Very low frequency

VLF

Low frequency

LF

Medium frequency

MF

High frequency

HF

Very high
frequency

VHF

Ultra high
frequency

UHF

Super high
frequency

SHF

10

Extremely high
frequency

EHF

11

THz or THF

12

Terahertz or
Tremendously high
frequency

Frequency
and
wavelength in
air
< 3 Hz
> 100,000 km
330 Hz
100,000 km
10,000 km
30300 Hz
10,000 km
1000 km
3003000 Hz
1000 km
100 km

Example uses

Natural and artificial electromagnetic noise

Communication with submarines

Communication with submarines

Submarine communication, Communication
within mines

Navigation, time signals, submarine

330 kHz
communication, wireless heart rate monitors,
100 km 10 km
geophysics
Navigation, time signals, AM longwave
30300 kHz
broadcasting (Europe and parts of Asia), RFID,
10 km 1 km
amateur radio
3003000 kHz AM (medium-wave) broadcasts, amateur radio,
1 km 100 m avalanche beacons
Shortwave broadcasts, citizens' band radio,
amateur radio and over-the-horizon aviation
communications, RFID, Over-the-horizon radar,
330 MHz
Automatic link establishment (ALE) / Near
100 m 10 m
Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) radio
communications, Marine and mobile radio
telephony
FM, television broadcasts and line-of-sight
ground-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-aircraft
30300 MHz
communications. Land Mobile and Maritime
10 m 1 m
Mobile communications, amateur radio, weather
radio
Television broadcasts, microwave ovens,
microwave devices/communications, radio
3003000 MHz astronomy, mobile phones, wireless LAN,
1 m 100 mm Bluetooth, ZigBee, GPS and two-way radios such
as Land Mobile, FRS and GMRS radios, amateur
radio, Military aviation
Radio astronomy, microwave
330 GHz
devices/communications, wireless LAN, most
100 mm
modern radars, communications satellites,
10 mm
satellite television broadcasting, DBS, amateur
radio
Radio astronomy, high-frequency microwave
30300 GHz radio relay, microwave remote sensing, amateur
10 mm 1 mm radio, directed-energy weapon, millimeter wave
scanner
Terahertz imaging a potential replacement for
X-rays in some medical applications, ultrafast
3003,000 GHz molecular dynamics, condensed-matter physics,
1 mm 100 m terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, terahertz
computing/communications, sub-mm remote
sensing, amateur radio