Focusing 3D Measured Field-Probe Data To Image A Compact Range Reflector
Author: Scott T. McBride
Publication: AMTA 2013
Copyright Owner: NSI-MI Technologies
A diagnostic technique was published over 20 years ago on imaging compact-range reflectors by focusing plane-polar field-probe data. At that time, only synthesized data had been evaluated. Since then, a few reflectors have exhibited performance lower than expected, and this technique has been successfully employed to improve that performance based on their measured data. This paper reviews the technique and discusses the results of processing those measured data sets.
The technique produces an image of the estimated field amplitudes at the reflector surface that do not contribute to the desired quiet-zone plane wave. Point sources, line sources, and deformations over an area have all been successfully identified, often outside the projected circular boundary of the field-probe data. All measurements to date have used very coarse angular spacing with acceptable degradation in image quality.