Environmental impacts on antennas for wireless sensors on outer aircraft surfaces

Wireless sensors on the outer surface of aircrafts are of interest for both research and control of modern aircrafts. However, the constraints are quite challenging for the antenna design: Since the surface may be conductive and the constructive height of the sensor must remain low, e.g. below one millimeter, the antenna gain and directivity can be quite unfavorable. Moreover, the reliability of the wireless link in particular under varying environmental conditions, e.g. due to rain or icing conditions, is also a critical aspect. In this paper we report simulations and experimental results obtained in an icing wind tunnel. We show that the additional path loss for flat antennas mounted on a wing model remains below 25dB due to icing and rain conditions.