PFI:AIR - TT: Improving Performance and Reducing Costs for Phased Array Weather Radar

该PFI：AIR技术翻译项目的重点是翻译一种技术，以纠正相控阵天线中的极化误差，使其能够用于双极化天气雷达应用。 交错稀疏阵列（伊萨）技术是重要的，因为它增强了相控阵雷达的扫描能力，并可能导致更便宜和更小的天气雷达与适当的精度在传统的天气雷达是成本和空间的限制。 这可以保护人的生命，更好地管理农业，更好地防备与天气有关的事件。 该项目将导致伊萨技术的概念验证，该技术将使双极化相控阵天气雷达能够以具有成本效益的方式实现天气和水文应用所需的极化纯度。在相控阵天线中，阵列的每个元件不仅辐射其所需的极化，而且还发射不需要的交叉极化信号。 伊萨技术是在制造之后应用的校正，并且切换一些天线元件的极化，以便消除阵列的其余部分的交叉极化信号，或者调整整体辐射极化。 为此，需要表征天线元件以确定要切换的元件的数量和位置。 该项目解决了如何成本有效地表征天线元件，以及如何评估由此产生的性能，使伊萨可以应用于商业产品。 除了技术工作外，参与该项目的人员，包括博士后学生，将进行与现有技术相关的文献和专利检索，与大学技术办公室合作保护产生的任何知识产权，开发营销抵押品，并与工业合作者和其他潜在的许可证持有人合作，确定该技术的首批采用者进行原型演示。

This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating a technique to correct polarization errors in phased-array antennas enabling their use in dual polarization weather radar applications. The Interleaved Sparse Array (ISA) technique is important because it augments the enhanced scanning capabilities of phased-array radar and may lead to cheaper and smaller weather radars with appropriate accuracy in places where traditional weather radars are cost- and space-prohibitive. This can lead to the preservation of human life, better management of agriculture, and better preparedness for weather-related events. The project will result in a proof-of-concept demonstration of the ISA technique that will enable dual-polarization phased-array weather radars to achieve necessary polarization purity for weather and hydrological applications in a cost-effective manner. In phased-array antennas, each element of the array not only radiates its requested polarization, but also emits an unwanted cross-polarized signal. The ISA technique is a correction that is applied after manufacturing and switches the polarization of some of the antenna elements in order to cancel the cross-polarized signal of the remainder of the array, or to adjust the overall radiated polarization. To do so, the antenna elements need to be characterized to determine the number and position of the elements to be switched. This project addresses how to cost effectively characterize the antenna elements and how to evaluate the resulting performance so that ISA may be applied to commercial products. In addition to the technical work, personnel involved in this project, including a postdoctoral student, will conduct literature and patent searches related to prior art, work with the university technology office on protecting any intellectual property generated, develop marketing collateral, and work with industrial collaborators and other potential licensees on identifying first adopters of the technology for prototype demonstrations.