The Use of Near Field Probe in the Analysis of Radome Performance

Abstract

This paper is comprised of an adaptation of tomographic techniques for the purpose of radome analysis, and a test of the resulting formulation. The formulation com bines plane-wave spectrum backpropagation and aperture integration to map transmitted field measurements over a radome surface. This type of analysis allows two methods of compensation for radome effects. The first method consists of modifying the radome structure to equalize the local transmission characteristics. The second method of compensation is yet untried, and utilizes the knowledge of the equivalent sources representing the radome effects on the antenna aperture. These equivalent sources are a by-product of the backpropagation step. Theoretically, compensation for radome effects on the antenna aperture can be accomplished by subtracting these equivalent currents from the original aperture currents.