Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications
The microwave interferometric radiometer (MIR) uses aperture synthesis technology to equate multiple small-aperture antennas into a large-aperture antenna to improve spatial resolution. At present, MIR antennas that operate at frequencies above the C-band mostly use horn antennas, waveguide slot ant...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/1/228 |
| _version_ | 1797438608121004032 |
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| author | Chunwang Gu Hao Liu Min Yi |
| author_facet | Chunwang Gu Hao Liu Min Yi |
| author_sort | Chunwang Gu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The microwave interferometric radiometer (MIR) uses aperture synthesis technology to equate multiple small-aperture antennas into a large-aperture antenna to improve spatial resolution. At present, MIR antennas that operate at frequencies above the C-band mostly use horn antennas, waveguide slot antennas, etc., which have the disadvantages of a high profile and large mass. In this paper, a new type of miniaturized, low-profile, and lightweight K-band fan-beam microstrip grid antenna is designed for the airborne campaign of the K-band one-dimensional MIR of a Microwave Imager Combined Active and Passive (MICAP) onboard a Chinese Ocean Salinity Mission (COSM). With a limited size constraint (12.33 mm) on the antenna width, a fan-beam shape antenna pattern was achieved with a 5.34° 3-dB beamwidth in the narrow beam direction and up to a 55° 3-dB beamwidth in the fan-beam direction. A periodic structural unit is proposed in this paper to reduce the design complexity of Taylor weighting, achieving desirable performances on gain (19.1 dB) and sidelobe level (<−20 dB) in the H-plane. Four antenna elements were fabricated and arranged in a non-redundant sparse array. The performance of the four-element sparse array was evaluated with a simulation and real measurement in an anechoic chamber. The coupling between antenna elements was less than −25 dB, and the consistency of phase patterns was better than 3.4°. These results verify the feasibility of the proposed K-band microstrip grid antenna for airborne MIR applications. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:39:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad206af8f2b84d4480ca7c3e781fe5b4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:39:30Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad206af8f2b84d4480ca7c3e781fe5b42023-11-30T23:34:58ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2023-01-0114122810.3390/mi14010228Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer ApplicationsChunwang Gu0Hao Liu1Min Yi2Key Laboratory of Microwave Remote Sensing, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaKey Laboratory of Microwave Remote Sensing, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaKey Laboratory of Microwave Remote Sensing, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaThe microwave interferometric radiometer (MIR) uses aperture synthesis technology to equate multiple small-aperture antennas into a large-aperture antenna to improve spatial resolution. At present, MIR antennas that operate at frequencies above the C-band mostly use horn antennas, waveguide slot antennas, etc., which have the disadvantages of a high profile and large mass. In this paper, a new type of miniaturized, low-profile, and lightweight K-band fan-beam microstrip grid antenna is designed for the airborne campaign of the K-band one-dimensional MIR of a Microwave Imager Combined Active and Passive (MICAP) onboard a Chinese Ocean Salinity Mission (COSM). With a limited size constraint (12.33 mm) on the antenna width, a fan-beam shape antenna pattern was achieved with a 5.34° 3-dB beamwidth in the narrow beam direction and up to a 55° 3-dB beamwidth in the fan-beam direction. A periodic structural unit is proposed in this paper to reduce the design complexity of Taylor weighting, achieving desirable performances on gain (19.1 dB) and sidelobe level (<−20 dB) in the H-plane. Four antenna elements were fabricated and arranged in a non-redundant sparse array. The performance of the four-element sparse array was evaluated with a simulation and real measurement in an anechoic chamber. The coupling between antenna elements was less than −25 dB, and the consistency of phase patterns was better than 3.4°. These results verify the feasibility of the proposed K-band microstrip grid antenna for airborne MIR applications.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/1/228microwave interferometric radiometermicrostrip grid antennasparse array |
| spellingShingle | Chunwang Gu Hao Liu Min Yi Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications Micromachines microwave interferometric radiometer microstrip grid antenna sparse array |
| title | Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications |
| title_full | Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications |
| title_fullStr | Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications |
| title_short | Lightweight Fan-Beam Microstrip Grid Antenna for Airborne Microwave Interferometric Radiometer Applications |
| title_sort | lightweight fan beam microstrip grid antenna for airborne microwave interferometric radiometer applications |
| topic | microwave interferometric radiometer microstrip grid antenna sparse array |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/1/228 |
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