Design of a Cylindrical Crossed Dipole Phased Array Antenna for Weather Surveillance Radars

We present a cylindrical dual-polarization phased array antenna for weather surveillance radars that features high isolation, matched copolar beams, low sidelobe levels, and adaptive null steering. We present a crossed dipole antenna element to replace the patch antenna on the currently deployed cylindrical polarimetric phased array radar (CPPAR). The crossed dipole element offers suppressed surface wave and lower coupling between adjacent elements of an array. As a result, we achieved lower backlobe and sidelobe levels, and a higher match between copolar beams of CPPAR compared to the currently deployed multi-layer patch antenna. Further reduction of the sidelobe level and adaptive null steering are obtained using a modified particle swarm optimization. The proposed null steering mitigates the interference among the four concurrent beams of a cylindrical phased array radar. The improvement in CPPAR radiation characteristics has been verified by comparing the presented crossed dipole antenna's radiation patterns and the existing aperture coupled patch antenna. The proposed crossed dipole phased array can benefit national weather radar networks to provide accurate multiparameter measurements enabling reliable observation of severe weather phenomena.

Automated summary

A cylindrical dual-polarization phased array antenna has been proposed for weather surveillance radars, offering improved performance by replacing the patch antenna with crossed dipole elements. This antenna design reduces sidelobe levels, improves copolar beam matching, and provides further optimization through particle swarm optimization and adaptive null steering. The proposed antenna can benefit national weather radar networks by providing accurate multiparameter measurements for reliable observation of severe weather phenomena.