Development of circularly polarized array antenna for synthetic aperture radar sensor installed on UAV

Abstract

We have developed an array antenna consisting of 12 elements of simple square-shaped, corner-truncated patches for circularly polarized synthetic aperture radar (CP-SAR) operated in the L-band. The corporate feed design concept is implemented by combining a split-T and a 3-way circular-sector-shape power divider to excite circularly polarized radiation. The fabricated antenna based on the simulation using moment method gives a good circular polarization at the center frequency of 1.27 GHz with an impedance bandwidth of 6.1% and 3-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 1.0%, satisfying the specification for our circularly polarized synthetic aperture radar intended for use onboard an unmanned aerial vehicle and a small satellite.