Abstract: The propagation of electromagnetic (EM) pulse in air is studied by using the method of transfer function. Some attenuation differences in atmosphere and vacuum for square pulse are compared. The atmosphere attenuation for square pulses, sinusoidal pulses, and trapezium pulses with different slope rising and undershoot falling edges are given. The numerical results show that atmosphere absorbing attenuation shortens the propagation distance of the pulses. Since the atmosphere absorbs EM waves for different frequency with different rate, the attenuation of square pulses and sinusoidal waves are changed alternatively with distance. The propagation is different for the pulses with different spectrum distribution in the atmosphere.