Direction finding in array geometry uncertainty

The array geometry uncertainty occurring on an aircraft in flight resulting from variations of the interelement locations due to distortions in the airframe is modeled. For a linear direction-finding (DF) array mounted on an aircraft wing that is bent parabolically when the aircraft is in flight the authors determine the effect of the bending on the estimates of the angle-of-arrival (AOA) of signals using high-resolution DF methods. Possible remedies to account for the distortion are presented. Although the problem is treated in a simplified one-dimensional (1-D) scenario, the work is easily extendable to the 3-D case. Computer simulations carried out on a seven-element randomly spaced array illustrating the approach are provided.<>