EAS487: Radar Remote Sensing Spring 2014

HOMEWORK 4: Aperture antennas

Reference: Lectures 16-20 Due: 2014 March 7
Problem 1. In class, we found that the angular
spectrum of an aperture antenna can be written as
|F(k
x
, k
y
)|
2

E(x

, y

)e
jkr

ds

2
(1)
where the integration is over the aperture and where
r

is a vector in the plane of the aperture. For a

uniform phase aperture, the main beam will be in
the direction normal to the aperture (k r

= 0), and
the power density in the direction of the maximum
can then be written as:
p
max
=
k
2
32
2
Z

E(x

, y

)ds

2
(2)
where the appropriate constants have been lled in
for the rst time. Finding the total radiated power
by integrating (1) over all angles would be quite dif-
cult in practice. However, since we know all the
power radiated had to pass through the aperture, we
can cleverly calculate the total radiated power by in-
tegrating the usual expression for the power density
of an electromagnetic wave over the aperture:
p
total
=
1
2Z

|E(x

, y

)|
2
ds

(3)
Combining (2) and (3), we can calculate the direc-
tivity of the aperture radiator:
D 4
p
max
p
total
=
4

E(x

, y

)ds

|E(x

, y

)|
2
ds

=
4

2
A
phys
|E|
2
|E|
2

=
4

2
A
e
(4)
The above express the reciprocity theorem and the
denition of the eective area of an aperture in terms
of its physical area. The aperture eciency is the
ratio of the eective to the physical area.
Now the question: using the Schwartz inequality
given below, prove that an aperture with uniform
amplitude excitation has the largest eective aper-
ture and hence the highest directivity.

AB ds

A
2
ds

B
2
ds
Hint: let A=1 and B be the aperture eld.
Problem 2. The above calculations can be used
to show that the aperture eciency for a uniformly
illuminated aperture is unity. Now, do the calcula-
tion numerically. Consider a large square aperture in
the xy plane (at z = 0) measuring 40 wavelengths
on a side containing a uniform tangential eld.
a) Write down the spatial Fourier transform ex-
pressing the radiation eld.
b) Calculate the power pattern in the xz plane
( = 0) and plot it. The plot should make clear
the HPBW and the level of the rst sidelobe at
least.
c) Now integrate the entire pattern to get the
total radiated power and from that, the direc-
tivity. Be careful with your limits of integration.
Find the eective area from the directivity and
compare it with the physical area. If they dont
agree to within a few percent, youve done some-
thing wrong.
Problem 3. Tapered aperture distributions pro-
duce beams with lower sidelobes than distributions
with sharp edges. Suppose we have a circular aper-
ture of diameter D=50 where the aperture distribu-
tion depends only on the distance r

from the center.

Neglecting the Fresnel term, we have seen that the
radiation eld F is then related to the aperture dis-
tribution E through the integral
F()

E(r

)J

(kr

sin)r

dr

where the primed variables refer to the position in

the aperture plane, which we take to be the x y
plane here, and where the radiated power density is
proportional to |F()|
2
.
a) Verify numerically the known result that, for
a uniform aperture distribution, the half power
beamwidth (HPBW) is 1.02/D radians and the
rst sidelobe level is 17.6 dB below the main
beam. Make a properly scaled plot to show this.
b) Now, suppose the aperture eld is uniform
out to r

= D/4 and then tapers linearly with

r

to zero at r

= D/2. Repeat part (a), nding

the new HPBW and the rst sidelobe level, and
plot the radiation pattern.
c) Calculate the aperture eciency and the ef-
fective area for both cases directly.
Problem 4. Investigate the power pattern of
an antenna in the Fresnel zone. Consider a one-
dimensional aperture that is uniformly illuminated
CORNELL UNIVERSITY c DAVE HYSELL (02/21/14)
HW 41
EAS487: Radar Remote Sensing Spring 2014
HOMEWORK 4: Aperture antennas
Reference: Lectures 16-20 Due: 2014 March 7
in the x direction. Neglect the y dependence in
this problem (no integrals in the y direction needed).
Take L
x
= 200 m and = 1 m. Calculate the dis-
tance where the transition from the Fresnel zone to
the Fraunhofer zone occurs and call this r

. Now,
using the full expression for the aperture integral,
including the quadratic Fresnel zone term, calculate
the power pattern |F(k
x
)|
2
at a distance of 0.1r

and
10r

. Plot your results. In the Fraunhofer zone, the

pattern should agree with the far eld (sinX/X)
2
pattern. In the Fresnel zone, meanwhile, the pattern
should start to resemble a searchlight pattern with
steep walls.
CORNELL UNIVERSITY c DAVE HYSELL (02/21/14)
HW 42