Design and Evaluation of Compact Antennae for Ionospheric Sounding

Abstract:

Compact high frequency (HF) antennas are crucial for enabling the use of HF radar sounding for ionospheric remote sensing using a dense network of sounders. Current ionosonde antennas are large and expensive. In this study, we investigate two compact HF antenna designs through modeling and prototypes: a folded resistively loaded dipole, and a capacitively tuned small magnetic loop.

Both antennas were modeled using FEKO to investigate antenna efficiency and beam patterns. The folded dipole was bought off the shelf, while the compact magnetic loop prototype was built in house. In this study, we present both modeling and measurements of the antenna characteristics. We also present the first ionospheric soundings obtained using the prototype antennas.