The propagation characteristics of the beam under various initial conditions are investigated by means of PIC method. The influences of density modulation and velocity modulation on the propagation characteristics are discussed and compared. The results reveal that by changing the amplitude of the two kinds of modulations and the phase difference between them, the distribution property of the first harmonic of the current density can be adapted along the beam propagating path, which is a feasible method to enhance the beam-wave interaction efficiency in Cerenkov HPM devices.