Testing the Re-designed SuperDARN HF Radar and Modeling of a Twin Terminated Folded Dipole Array

Abstract

The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international collaboration of researchers interested in Earth's near-space plasma environment. This group uses high frequency (HF) radars and backscatter from magnetic field-aligned plasma irregularities to study space weather manifested in the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. Space weather impacts many technological systems including Global Positioning System (GPS), spacecraft orbits, power distribution, surveillance radar, HF communications and transpolar aviation.

This thesis explores, in detail, the techniques and challenges of constructing, testing, and operating a newly designed SuperDARN HF radar. In modern times, the use of such frequencies for radar is limited to very specific applications and thus the topics presented are not common place. A new antenna design, the twin terminated folded dipole (TTFD), is analyzed along with the modeling results for several proposed and constructed phased arrays for this design. Finally, an initial radiation pattern measurement for the TTFD is presented and notes on how a similar measurement might be conducted on a TTFD phased array.