A method, comprising: positioning a charge terminal (T 1) at a defined height over a lossy conducting medium, the charge terminal comprising an upper terminal portion (T 1U) coupled to a lower terminal portion (T 1L) through a variable capacitance; adjusting a phase delay (Φ) of a feed network connected to the charge terminal to match a wave tilt angle (Ψ) corresponding to a complex Brewster angle of incidence ( θ i, B) associated with the lossy conducting medium; adjusting the variable capacitance of the charge terminal to match a reactive component of an image ground plane impedance ( Z in) associated with the lossy conducting medium with a reactive component of a structure impedance ( Z base) associated with the feed network and the charge terminal, where the image ground plane impedance is given by: Z in = Z o tanh γ o z 1 where Z 0 is a characteristic impedance of air with a propagation constant of γ o = jω μ o ε o where ω = 2 πf with an operational frequency of f, μ 0 is the propagation constant of air and ε 0 is the permittivity of air, and z 1 is given by: z 1 = 1 γ o tanh − 1 Z e Z o where Z e = jωμ 1 / γ e, or z 1 is approximated by: z 1 ≈ 1 γ e where γ e = jωμ 1 σ 1 + jωε 1, μ 1 is the propagation constant of the lossy conducting medium, σ 1 is the conductivity of the lossy conducting medium and ε 1 is the permittivity of the lossy conducting medium; and exciting the charge terminal with an excitation voltage at the operational frequency via the feed network, where the excitation voltage establishes an electric field that couples into a guided surface waveguide mode along a surface of the lossy conducting medium. positioning a charge terminal (T 1) at a defined height over a lossy conducting medium, the charge terminal comprising an upper terminal portion (T 1U) coupled to a lower terminal portion (T 1L) through a variable capacitance; adjusting a phase delay (Φ) of a feed network connected to the charge terminal to match a wave tilt angle (Ψ) corresponding to a complex Brewster angle of incidence ( θ i, B) associated with the lossy conducting medium; adjusting the variable capacitance of the charge terminal to match a reactive component of an image ground plane impedance ( Z in) associated with the lossy conducting medium with a reactive component of a structure impedance ( Z base) associated with the feed network and the charge terminal, where the image ground plane impedance is given by: Z in = Z o tanh γ o z 1 where Z 0 is a characteristic impedance of air with a propagation constant of γ o = jω μ o ε o where ω = 2 πf with an operational frequency of f, μ 0 is the propagation constant of air and ε 0 is the permittivity of air, and z 1 is given by: z 1 = 1 γ o tanh − 1 Z e Z o where Z e = jωμ 1 / γ e, or z 1 is approximated by: z 1 ≈ 1 γ e where γ e = jωμ 1 σ 1 + jωε 1, μ 1 is the propagation constant of the lossy conducting medium, σ 1 is the conductivity of the lossy conducting medium and ε 1 is the permittivity of the lossy conducting medium; and exciting the charge terminal with an excitation voltage at the operational frequency via the feed network, where the excitation voltage establishes an electric field that couples into a guided surface waveguide mode along a surface of the lossy conducting medium.