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

这个PFI：空气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，使其能够在双极化天气雷达应用中使用。交错稀疏阵列(ISA)技术很重要，因为它增强了相控阵雷达的增强扫描能力，并可能导致在传统天气雷达成本和空间都令人望而却步的地方，以适当的精度制造出更便宜、更小的天气雷达。这可以保护人类生命，更好地管理农业，更好地为与天气有关的事件做好准备。该项目将对ISA技术进行概念验证，这将使双极化相控阵天气雷达能够以具有成本效益的方式为气象和水文应用实现必要的偏振纯度。在相控阵天线中，阵列的每个单元不仅辐射其请求的极化，而且还发出不需要的交叉极化信号。ISA技术是在制造之后应用的校正，并切换某些天线单元的极化，以消除阵列其余部分的交叉极化信号，或调整总辐射极化。为此，需要对天线单元进行表征，以确定要切换的单元的数量和位置。该项目涉及如何经济有效地表征天线元件，以及如何评估由此产生的性能，以便ISA可以应用于商业产品。除了技术工作外，参与该项目的人员，包括一名博士后，将进行与现有技术相关的文献和专利搜索，与大学技术办公室合作保护产生的任何知识产权，开发营销宣传材料，并与行业合作者和其他潜在的被许可人合作，确定该技术的第一批采用者以进行原型演示。

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.