In telecommunication, a ground plane is an electrically conductive surface that serves as the near-field reflection point for an antenna, or as a reference ground in a circuit.
A ground plane may consist of a natural (e.g., Earth or sea) surface, an artificial surface of opportunity (e.g., the roof of a motor vehicle), or a specially designed artificial surface (e.g., the disc of a discone antenna).
Source: from Federal Standard 1037C in support of MIL-STD-188
