SIR-C data quality and calibration results

The SIR-C/X-SAR imaging radar took its first flight on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in April 1994 and flew for a second time in October 1994. This multifrequency radar has fully polarimetric capability at L- and C-band, and a single polarization at X-band (X-SAR). The Endeavour missions were designated the Space Radar Laboratory-1 (SRL-1) and -2 (SRL-2). Calibration of polarimetric L- and C-band data for all the different modes SIR-C offers is an especially complicated problem. The solution involves extensive analysis of pre-flight test data to come up with a model of the system, analysis of in-flight test data to determine the antenna pattern and gains of the system during operation, and analysis of data from over fourteen calibration sites distributed around the SIR-C/X-SAR orbit track. The SRL missions were the first time a multifrequency polarimetric imaging radar employing a phased array antenna has been flown in space. Calibration of SIR-C data products involved some unique technical problems given the complexity of the radar system. In this paper, the approach adopted for calibration of SIR-C data is described and the calibration performance of the data products is presented     

Electromagnetic scattering from vibrating penetrable objects using a general class of time-varying sheet boundary conditions

Calculation of electromagnetic (EM) scattering from vibrating penetrable cylinders of arbitrary cross-section is presented using a general class of time-varying sheet boundary conditions (SBCs) in conjunction with the method of moments (MoM). Sheet impedance and admittance expressions are first derived from the exact scattering solution for a penetrable circular cylinder with perturbed radius. Then, using the SBCs, integral equations are derived and solved numerically so that vibrating cylinders with arbitrary cross-section can be treated. Cylinder vibrations are assumed to be non-relativistic, allowing a simplified calculation of the scattered Doppler spectrum. A critical factor in the calculation of the potentially small Doppler components is that the time-varying nature of the cylinder boundary, contained within the sheet impedance and admittance expressions, can be isolated from the unperturbed terms in the scattered field. Comparison with exact and analytical perturbation solutions are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the numerical solution.     

A Frequency Selective Surface With Miniaturized Elements

We demonstrate a new class of bandpass frequency selective surface (FSS), the building block of which, unlike the traditional FSSs, makes use of resonant dipole and slot structures that have dimensions much smaller than the operating wavelength. This design allows localization of bandpass characteristics to within a small area on the surface which in turn facilitates flexible spatial filtering for an arbitrary wave phasefront. The proposed FSS is made up of periodic array of metallic patches separated by thin air-gaps backed by a wire mesh having the same periodicity (Ltlambda). The array of metallic patches constitute a capacitive surface and the wire mesh a coupled inductive surface, which together act as a resonant structure in the path of an incident plane wave. Like traditional FSSs, the capacitive and inductive surfaces of the proposed FSS can easily be fabricated using printed circuit technology on both sides of microwave substrates. It is shown that by cascading such bandpass surfaces in a proper fashion, any arbitrary multipole filter or non-commensurate multiband response can be obtained. The frequency response of the proposed miniaturized-element frequency selective surface (MEFSS) is demonstrated for various incident angles and it is shown that one-pole designs are less sensitive than two-pole designs to the angle of incidence. Dual band designs are also possible based on two-pole designs, but are more sensitive to incident angle than single band designs because of their larger (in terms of wavelengths) spacing. Prototypes of single-pole and dual-pole MEFSSs are fabricated and tested in a waveguide environment at X-band frequencies and excellent agreements between the measured and simulated results are demonstrated     

A wide-band, circularly polarized, magnetodielectric resonator antenna

Previously insurmountable challenges posed by stringent requirements of simultaneous compact size, high bandwidth, high to moderate efficiency, and circular polarization operation at UHF have been surpassed by a unique design employing layered magnetodielectric materials. To achieve percentage bandwidth values in excess of 50% for an antenna with a maximum dimension of 0.15/spl lambda/ three approaches for bandwidth enhancement are combined in a proper fashion. A volumetric source, as opposed to printed planar or wire sources, inherently provides higher bandwidth and is used as the fundamental radiating element of the antenna. The radiating structure is made up of layered magnetodielectric material with proper design of permittivity and permeability values forming a magnetodielectric resonator antenna (MDRA). Noting that miniaturization and wave impedance in the MDRA are, respectively, proportional to the square-root of the product and ratio of the permeability and permittivity, moderate values of permittivity and permeability are used to enhance the bandwidth while achieving considerable miniaturization. The third method for bandwidth enhancement is based on the integration of a resonant feed and many parasitic elements into the MDRA structure. Square symmetry of the MDRA is used to obtain circular polarization operation. A prototype small UHF antenna operating over 240-420 MHz with a linear dimension smaller than 0.15/spl lambda/ at the lowest frequency is fabricated and tested; the results are summarized in this paper.     

AVNA-based polarimetric scatterometers

The polarization synthesis technique for measuring the scattering properties of point and distributed targets is discussed, and it is pointed out that accurate measurements of both the magnitude and phase of the scattered signal are now possible by using the signal-processing and error-correction techniques of the automatic vector network analyzer (AVNA). The principles of operation of the AVNA are given, and an overview of AVNA-based scatterometer configurations in use today at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths is provided     

A compact antenna for ultrawide-band applications

A novel compact and ultrawide-band (UWB) antenna is presented in this paper. The basis for achieving such an UWB operation is through proper magnetic coupling of two adjacent sectorial loop antennas in a symmetrical arrangement. A large number of coupled sectorial loop antennas (CSLA) with different geometrical parameters are fabricated and their measured responses are used to experimentally optimize the geometrical parameters of the antenna for achieving the maximum bandwidth. Through this optimization process an antenna with a VSWR of lower than 2.2 (S/sub 11/<-8.5 dB) across an 8.5:1 frequency range is designed. The maximum dimension of this antenna is smaller than 0.37/spl lambda//sub 0/ at the lowest frequency of operation and provides an excellent polarization purity. Furthermore, the antenna exhibits a relatively consistent radiation pattern. Modified versions of the CSLA are also designed to reduce the overall metallic surface and weight of the antenna while maintaining its wide-band characteristics. This allows modifying its dimensions to design low frequency light-weight UWB antennas.     

Compact slot and dielectric resonator antenna with dual-resonance, broadband characteristics

The goal of this study is to improve the bandwidth of a miniaturized antenna. The proposed technique combines a slot antenna and a dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) to effectively double the available bandwidth without compromising miniaturization or efficiency. With proper design it is observed that the resonance of the slot and that of the dielectric structure itself may be merged to achieve extremely wide bandwidth over which the antenna polarization and radiation pattern are preserved. In addition, using the DRA, a volumetric source, improves the radiation power factor of the radiating slot. A miniaturized antenna figure of merit (MAFM) is defined to simultaneously quantify aspects of miniaturized antenna performance including the degree of miniaturization, efficiency, and bandwidth. Figures for various common types of antennas are given and compared with that of the proposed structures. In order to determine the effects of varying design parameters on bandwidth and matching, sensitivity analysis is carried out using the finite-difference time-domain method. Numerous designs for miniaturized slot-fed dielectric resonator antennas are simulated and bandwidths exceeding 25% are achieved. Two 2.4 GHz antennas are built, characterized, and the results compared with theory.     

Design of an efficient miniaturized UHF planar antenna

The design aspects and the measured results of a novel miniaturized planar antenna are described. Such architectural antenna design is of great importance in mobile military communications where low visibility and high mobility are required. Slot radiating elements, having a planar geometry and capable of transmitting vertical polarization when placed nearly horizontal, are appropriate for the applications at hand. Slot antennas also have another useful property, so far as impedance matching is concerned. Basically, slot dipoles can easily be excited by a microstrip line and can be matched to arbitrary line impedances simply by moving the feed point along the slot. Antenna miniaturization can be achieved by using a high permittivity or permeability substrate and superstrate materials and/or using an appropriate antenna topology. We demonstrate miniaturization by designing an appropriate geometry for a resonant narrow slot antenna. A very efficient radiating element that occupies an area as small as 0.12/spl lambda//sub 0//spl times/0.12/spl lambda//sub 0/ is designed and tested. Simulation results, as well as the measured input impedance and radiation patterns of this antenna, are presented. This structure shows a measured gain of 0.5 dBi on FR4 substrate, which has a loss-tangent of the order of 0.01. Also, the effect of finite ground plane size on gain and resonant frequency is investigated experimentally.     

Electromagnetic scattering from a dielectric cylinder buried beneath a slightly rough surface

An analytical solution is presented for the electromagnetic scattering from a dielectric circular cylinder embedded in a dielectric half-space with a slightly rough interface. The solution utilizes the spectral (plane-wave) representation of the fields and accounts for all the multiple interactions between the rough interface and the. buried cylinder. First-order coefficients from the small perturbation method are used for computation of the scattered fields from the rough surface. The derivation includes both TM and TE polarizations and can be easily extended for other cylindrical buried objects (e.g., cylindrical shell, metallic cylinder). Several scattering scenarios are examined utilizing the new solution for a dielectric cylinder beneath a flat, sinusoidal, and arbitrary rough surface profile. Results indicate that the scattering pattern of a buried object below a slightly rough surface differs from the flat surface case only when the surface roughness spectrum contains a limited range of spatial frequencies. Furthermore, the illuminated area of the incident wave is seen to be a critical factor in the visibility of a buried object below a rough surface.     

An ultrafast wide-band millimeter-wave (MMW) polarimetric radar for remote sensing applications

With the advent of high-frequency radio frequency (RF) circuits and components technology, millimeter-wave (MMW) radars are being proposed for a large number of military and civilian applications. Accurate and high-resolution characterization of the polarimetric radar backscatter responses of both clutter and man-made targets at MMW frequencies is essential for the development of radar systems and optimal detection and tracking algorithms. Toward this end, a new design is developed for ultrafast, wide-band, polarimetric, instrumentation radars that operate at 35 and 95 GHz. With this new design, the complete scattering matrix of a target (magnitude and phase) can be measured over a bandwidth of 500 MHz in less than 2 /spl mu/s. In this paper, the design concepts and procedures for the construction and calibration of these radars are described. In addition, the signal processing algorithm and data-acquisition procedure used with the new radars are presented. To demonstrate the accuracy and applicability of the new radars, backscatter measurements of certain points and distributed targets are compared with their analytical radar cross section (RCS) and previously measured /spl sigma//spl deg/ values, respectively, and good agreements are shown. These systems, which can be mounted on a precision gimbal assembly that facilitates their application as high-resolution imaging radar systems, are used to determine the MMW two-way propagation loss of a corn field for different plant moisture conditions.