A small low sidelobe reflector antenna for the transponder for the ERS-1 AMI

An electrically small offset reflector antenna (operating at 5.3 GHz) with very low sidelobes is presented. The antenna is envisaged for use in a transportable earth-based transponder for calibration of the active microwave instrument (AMI, which includes a synthetic aperture radar and a windscatterometer) onboard the European remote sensing satellite ERS-1. Antenna requirements, design, and performance are discussed. It is pointed out that stringent requirements on accuracy have pushed the testing to its limits in the far-field range.<
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