Grant: Idea to Innovation

Antennas for marine surveillance radars and meteorological radars operate in X-band and have to scan over a 360-degree sector in azimuth. In existing radars, the whole antenna and its beamforming network and/or feed horn have to be rotated mechanically which, because of inertia and stability issues, is limiting the scanning rate and agility. As an outcome of a recently completed Strategic Grant project, an antenna solution in which the radiating element of the radar are fixed was developed. In this antenna, azimuth scanning is achieved by rotating a lightweight circular array beamforming system. In this I2I project, we will develop a radar antenna prototype based on this new concept. This prototype will meet the requirements of marine radars. In particular, the antenna diameter will have to be increased to 2.4 meters to obtain the narrow beamwidth required in the surveillance and meteorological applications. This will necessitate detailed design to account for mechanical and environmental requirements. A radiating element meeting the elevation beamwidth specifications of marine surveillance will be developed, and the dual polarization mode of operation will be taken into account.The antenna prototype realized in this project will have distinct advantages in comparison to existing marine radar antennas. Firstly, it will allow greater azimuth scanning speeds, which leads to improved target detection probabilities. Secondly, a dual polarization operation mode will be possible, which also helps the detection of targets in presence of sea clutter.At the end of the project, the results would be interesting for marine radar company like Rutter Inc. (St-John's, NF). In a second time, a subsequent project may be set up to add the elevation scanning functionality to address the meteorological radar market, which would be of interest for Vaisala Canada (Richmond, BC) and Environment Canada.