)
Int. J. Electron. Commun. (AEU
journal homepage: www.elsevier.de/aeue
a r t i c l e in f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 8 September 2009
Accepted 19 December 2009
We propose a new circularly polarized elliptical microstrip antenna intended for use in circularly
polarized synthetic aperture radar (CP-SAR) systems operated in L-Band (1.27 GHz). The design and
fabrication process aim to fulll the challenging specication for our CP-SAR onboard unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV). We apply the proximity-coupled, single feeding method by a microstrip line positioned
451 counterclockwise to the semi-major axis of the ellipse to generate the left-handed circularly
polarized wave radiating from the patch. Both simulated and measured results are presented. For a
single-element model, the simulation gives an axial ratio bandwidth (o 3 dB) of about 0.85%
(10.8 MHz), which is consistent with the bandwidth measured for the measured fabricated model of
0.82% (10.4 MHz) and 0.91% (11.6 MHz) simulated for an antenna array model. These results satisfy the
specication for our CP-SAR sensor onboard UAV.
& 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Elliptical microstrip antenna
Circular polarization
Synthetic aperture radar
1. Introduction
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a multipurpose sensor that
can be operated in all-weather and both daytime and nighttime. A
circularly polarized SAR (CP-SAR) onboard micro-satellite is
currently developed in the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory
(MRSL) of the Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba
University, Japan and will be launched in 2014. As part of the
project, an airborne CP-SAR development is also undertaken in
order to obtain sufcient knowledge of CP-SAR sensor systems.
An L-band CP-SAR system is also being developed to be operable
on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Conventional SAR systems
have been based on linearly polarized (LP) antenna systems [1,2].
However, there are limitations due to the propagation phenomena such as the variation of geometric distance between the radar
system and the Earth, the occurrence of a phase shift when
microwave strikes smooth, reective surfaces, etc. These phenomena are suppose to lead to unwanted modulation of backscatter signals, random redistribution of returned signal-energy
and in the end, the formed image would encounter a spatially
variant blurring and defocusing as well as ambiguous identication of different low-backscatter features in a scene. Especially for
space propagation, electromagnetic waves propagating through
the ionosphere interact with electrons and magnetic elds. As a
result, the polarization vector of the electric eld is rotated by the
Faraday rotation effect [3]. Since the peak ionospheric density
occurs at about 400 km altitude, an L-band SAR onboard a micro Corresponding author. Tel.: + 81 43 290 3840; fax: +8143 290 3857.
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M. Baharuddin et al. / Int. J. Electron. Commun. (AEU
Table 1
Specication of CP-SAR onboard unmanned aerial vehicle.
Parameter
Specication
Frequency f
Chirp bandwidth D f
Polarization
Gain G
Axial ratio AR
Antenna size
Beam width
Resolution
Altitude range
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Fig. 3. Simulation results showing the frequency dependence of the axial ratio
(AR) of the elliptical microstrip antenna for various values of (a) the semi-major
axis a and (b) semi-minor axis b.
20
40
60
mm
80
100
120
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Fig. 10. Gain and AR vs. theta angle (radiation pattern) in the theta plane (Az 903
and 2703 ) (yz plane) at f 1:27 GHz.
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Acknowledgments
We thank to Basari, Muhammad Fauzan, Prilando R. A., Ilham
A. and Sugianto for assisting in the antenna fabrication and
measurement; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
(JSPS) for Grant-in-Aid for Scientic Research - Young Scientist (A)
(no. 19686025); National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (NICT) of Japan for International Research
Collaboration Research Grant 2009 and this work was supported
in part by the research grant for Mission Research on Sustainable
Humanosphere from Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere (RISH), Kyoto University, Japan.
References
Fig. 11 shows the antenna gain patterns (Az 03 and 903 ) for a
5 11 elliptical microstrip element array simulated using Zeland
IE3D on an innite ground, with each elliptical element fed
individually. The antenna arrangement is as shown in Fig. 1. The
elevation spacing between elements is 125 mm and the azimuth
spacing is 140 mm. Fig. 11 shows the resulting co- and crosspolarization composition patterns from RHCP elements. From this
gure, the gain at y 03 is 17.6 dBic, somewhat lower than the
target gain of 20 dBic (Table 1). However, the beam patterns are
mostly satisfactory for CP-SAR operation in both the azimuth and
elevation planes. The nearest side lobe is suppressed by about
13 dBic. From the simulation, it has also turned out that the array
achieves a 3-dB AR bandwidth of 11.58 MHz with the center
frequency of 1.27 GHz. Mutual coupling between elements in the
array can be inspected by observing the active element pattern and S
parameters from the IE3D simulation. The result has shown that no
scan blindness occurs at the main beam (with a beamwidth of
approximately 1001) and mutual coupling between elements are
lower than 17 dB. Further implementation of the array
conguration is in progress in our laboratory.
6. Conclusion
A circularly polarized antenna has been developed for
implementing an antenna for circularly polarized synthetic
aperture radar (CP-SAR) operated in L-band. The design and
optimization process was carried out using a MoM analysis
software. The single-element model was actually fabricated and
experimentally tested in our MRSL. From both of the simulation
and measurement results, it can be inferred that the elliptical
patch has mostly satised the target specication for a CP-SAR
antenna element to be used onboard UAV. The slight difference
between the simulated model and the measurement results is
probably due to the fabricated antenna conguration with holes
for plastic nuts, connectors, etc. The performance of an elliptical
microstrip array has also been examined with good results. On the
basis of knowledge on the antenna element and array conguration described in this paper, the array conguration will be
further designed, simulated, and tested in order to realize the CPSAR antenna onboard UAV.
Merna Baharuddin received her B.E. degree in electrical engineering specializing in Telecommunication
from Hasanuddin University, Indonesia, in 1999,
received her M.E. degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Monash University, Australia, in 2002.
She is a lecturer in Electrical Engineering Department,
Engineering Faculty, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia. She is now a Doctoral Student in Chiba University,
Graduate School of Advanced Integration Science.
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67
Hiroaki Kuze nished the graduate school of University of Tokyo in 1982, obtaining the Ph.D. degree in
physics in the eld of quantum electronics. After
working as a post-doctoral researcher for the Institute
for Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), in 1984 he
became a research assistant and in 1986 an associate
professor in the physics department, faculty of liberal
arts, Shizuoka University. During 19871988, he
stayed at the Institute for Quantum Optics, Max-Planck
Institute in West Germany as a visiting scientist. From
1995 to 2004, he worked as an associate professor with
the Center for Environmental Remote Sensing (CEReS),
Chiba University, and in 2004 he became a professor.
His major research eld is optical remote sensing of the atmosphere.