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A Dynamic Field-Deployable UAV-Based Far-Field Measurement Framework for Distributed HF Antenna Arrays
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DOI：10.1109/tim.2026.3718087.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
Far-field (FF) characterization of high-frequency (HF) antennas on large operational platforms presents significant metrological challenges due to the long wavelengths, large measurement distances, and complex environmental coupling. This article presents a dynamic, field-deployable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based FF measurement framework (FFMF) for distributed HF antenna arrays, demonstrated through the experimental characterization of a 16-element array integrated on a vessel. The FFMF integrates a UAV-mounted broadband HF transmitter, a portable 16-channel parallel receiver, and a data-processing module for amplitude/phase extraction, timestamp-based spatiotemporal alignment, uncertainty analysis, and radiation-pattern reconstruction. The transmitter employs a lumped-component-loaded normal-mode helix antenna cascaded with impedance-matching networks, achieving a stable voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) below 3 across 5.3–20 MHz. Within the data-processing module, the timestamp-based spatiotemporal alignment mechanism uses timestamps to associate each radio frequency (RF) data block with the corresponding UAV and vessel position/attitude data. This association geometrically compensates the amplitude/phase samples and maps them to the corresponding motion-corrected observation angles, enabling radiation-pattern reconstruction with an angular alignment uncertainty below 0.02°. To evaluate the framework under large-platform in situ conditions, a high-fidelity full-wave numerical reference model incorporating the vessel hull and the Pierson–Moskowitz (PM) sea spectrum was established. A comprehensive uncertainty analysis following the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) gives an expanded amplitude uncertainty of 1.14 dB (<inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k} =2$ </tex-math></inline-formula>). Field experiments conducted at five representative frequencies at a 1.3-km radius show that the measured main-lobe patterns exhibit root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) below 1.06 dB relative to the numerical reference model and remain within the calculated uncertainty bounds. These results demonstrate that the proposed FFMF provides a field-deployable and uncertainty-characterized measurement framework for evaluating the radiation characteristics of platform-installed HF antenna arrays in complex in situ environments without relying on fixed test infrastructure.
Keywords:
Antenna measurements
antenna radiation patterns
high-frequency (HF) antenna
impedance-matching network
normal-mode helix antenna
signal processing
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5.9
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1.9W
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5.8W
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