Improved Measured Source Antenna Representation in Satellite Antenna Placement Analysis with Numerical Simulation

Combination of measurements and simulations is becoming a popular and effective solution for antenna placement analysis. This is in fact an efficient and reliable implementation of a domain decomposition techniques where the main source is first measured and described in terms of the so-called Huygens box and then is imported in the Computational ElectroMagnetic (CEM) software performing the simulation of the complex environment. A crucial point for the reliability of the analysis is the correct measurement of the source antenna, which should satisfy proper conditions. For example, in case of flush mounted antenna, the correct local boundary conditions should be enforced by measuring the antenna with a minimum representative ground plane. A validation activity for space antenna testing has been previously presented [1] showing good results, but not as good as expected. This was due to the lack of measurement of the source antenna performed not in optimal conditions. In this paper, the same test case scenario will be taken into account considering another antenna this time measured under proper conditions, namely using a metallic ground plane. The new analysis will allow obtaining insights on the achievable accuracy for the considered scenario.