Cross-polarisation suppression in cylindrical The radiation pattern of the array antenna at 2.

8 GHz is shown in
array antenna
H. Saeidi-Manesh✉ and G. Zhang
The key goal in designing a dual polarisation antenna array is to
achieve a low cross-polarisation level. The cross-polarisation suppres-
sion method in dual linear polarisation phased array antenna is illus-
trated by using a dual linear penalisation probe-fed patch element.
The array consists of a number of identical 2 × 2 element sub-arrays
in which the H-port and V-port locations on each element are
changed. A 2 × 2 element sub-array has been fabricated and the
measurements and simulation results are provided to show the accuracy
of this cross-polarisation suppression method. In addition, the co- and
Fig. 2. The cross-polarisation pattern in Fig. 2 is based on Ludwig’s
second definition [3]. As shown in Fig. 2, the radiation pattern of
the cylindrical array of a probe-fed microstrip patch antenna is
similar to type-1 cross-polar pattern (i.e. co-polar and cross-polar pat-
terns are coaxial) which is the main reason in creating polarimetric
parameter estimate bias [4]. It is thus important to change the cross-
polarisation type to type-2 (a quad of four cross-polar peaks of alter-
nating phase symmetrically located about the co-polar beam) or to
suppress it.
co-polarisation H-pol co-polarisation H-pol
0 0 0 0

zenith angle q, deg

–10

zenith angle q, deg

–10
cross-polarisation patterns of the cylindrical array are presented. 45 45
–20 –20

90 –30 90 –30
Introduction: The United States network of weather surveillance
–40 –40
(radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D)) radars has been updated from a 135 135
–50 –50
single-polarisation system to a dual-polarisation system, allowing the
radars to transmit and receive horizontally and vertically polarised 180 –60 180 –60
–90 –45 0 45 90 –90 –45 0 45 90
waves. For a four-faced planar phased array antenna, since each face azimuth angle f, deg azimuth angle f, deg
and its broadside directions are fixed, in order to scan the required co-polarisation V-pol co-polarisation V-pol
space, the main beam direction of each face should be steered to off- 0 0 0 0

principle plane angles that cause a change in beam and polarisation

zenith angle q, deg

–10

zenith angle q, deg

–10
45 45
characteristics depending on electronic beam direction. Accurate polari- –20 –20
metric radar measurements require a radar antenna to have matched 90 –30 90 –30
co-polar (horizontal and vertical) radiation patterns, low cross- –40 –40
polarisation levels, and low sidelobes. The Cylindrical Polarimetric 135 135
–50 –50
Phased Array Radar (CPPAR) has been proposed to avoid such
180 –60 180 –60
deficiencies [1]. –90 –45 0 45 90 –90 –45 0 45 90
azimuth angle f, deg azimuth angle f, deg

Cylindrical array antenna radiation pattern: The geometry of an

Fig. 2 Horizontal (top) and vertical (bottom) polarisations, co- (left) and
M × N -element cylindrical array antenna is shown in Fig. 1. As is cross (right)-polarisation radiation patterns of the simulated cylindrical
shown in Fig. 1 the array consists of N, M-element linear array which array antenna
are placed on a circular ring with a radius of ‘a’. Circular arrays
possess the advantage of the symmetrical radiation pattern in the
azimuth, which makes the circular and cylindrical array configurations
V + V +
very interesting for radar applications. 1
+
H
Z –
H
2

y
z
q – 3 4 +
H H
V – V –

M
j a a b c

5 Fig. 3 Fabricated 2 × 2 sub-array using image configuration (CFG-E)

dz
4 a Top view
dz b Bottom
3
dz 2 c 2 × 2 element sub-array configuration
dz 1 y

0º 0 dB 0º 0 dB
N 1 2 3 4 5 30º 330º 30º 330º
–10 dB –10 dB
–20 dB –20 dB
60º –30 dB 300º 60º 300º
j –30 dB
x –40 dB –40 dB

90º 270º 90º 270º

Fig. 1 Geometry of cylindrical array antenna
120º 240º 120º 240º
The radiation pattern of the cylindrical array is the collective contri-
butions from the array elements on the cylindrical surface. The radiation 150º 210º 150º 210º
pattern of an M × N -element cylindrical array antenna can be written as 180º 180º
co-polarisation measurement co-polarisation simulation

M X-polarisation measurement X-polarisation simulation

E(u, w) = e−j((M −1)/2)cz ej(m−1)cz 90º 0 dB

60º 120º
90º 0 dB
60º
120º –10 dB –10 dB
m=1
–20 dB º –20 dB


N −1 150º
–30 dB
30º 150º
–30 dB
30º
× amn fn (u, w − nDw)ejka(sinucos(w−nDw)) (1) –40 dB –40 dB
n=0
180º 0º 180º 0º

where ‘a’ is the radius of cylinder, f (u, w) is embedded element radi-

ation pattern, cz = kdz cosu and amn is the amplitude weight applied to 210º 330º 210º 330º
the mnth element of the array.
240º 300º 240º 300º
The embedded element radiation pattern is extracted from the simu- 270º 270º
lation of a 9 × 9 planar array of simple probe-fed microstrip patch
antenna [2]. The radius of the simulated array is 0.9805 m and there Fig. 4 Simulated and measured horizontal (left) and vertical (right) polaris-
are 28 linear arrays with 26 elements each, covering a 90W sector of ation radiation patterns of the 2 × 2 element sub-array in u = 90W (top) and
the cylinder and the spacing between the array elements is 55 mm. w = 0W (bottom) planes

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 27th April 2017 Vol. 53 No. 9 pp. 577–578


Cross-polarisation suppression in cylindrical array antenna: Cross-
polarisation suppression methods in dual linear polarised array antennas
have been studied in various papers [2, 5]. In [2] we proposed another
possible form for the sub-array configuration (configuration ‘E’). As
shown in Fig. 3, in this configuration horizontal polarisation ports are
mirrored with respect to the horizontal and vertical planes, and vertical
polarisation ports are mirrored with respect to the horizontal plane. In
this Letter, this configuration is called image configuration.
The proposed 2 × 2 element sub-array is fabricated and the measure-
ment result is presented in Fig. 4. The spacing between sub-array
elements is 55 mm. As is shown here there is a perfect agreement
between simulation and measurement results in horizontal cut
(u = 90W ) for both polarisations and the peak of cross-polarisation is
transformed to a null. For a vertical cut (w = 0W ), the cross-polarisation
level in simulations was lower than −70 dB and was not measurable,
due to measurement limitations.
co-polarisation H-pol
0 0
–10
zenith angle q, deg
zenith angle q, deg
co-polarisation H-pol
0 0
–10
1350911x, 2017, 9, Downloaded from https://ietresearch.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1049/el.2017.0439, Wiley Online Library on [14/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
type-2 and the cross-polarisation peak is no longer coaxial with the
co-polarisation peak. Although it is not shown, the cross-polarisation
level in w = 0W plane is decreased from −22 to −72 dB for
H-polarisation and from −22.3 to −75 dB for V-polarisation. In the
u = 90W plane, the cross-polarisation level decreased from −21.8 to
−56 dB for H-polarisation and from −22.3 to −56 dB for
V-polarisation in the main beam area.
The radiation pattern of array with and without image configuration
when the main beam points in (u0 = 70W , w0 = 0W ) direction is shown
in Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 6, the cross-polarisation peak in both polar-
isations is not coaxial with the co-polarisation pattern and the cross-
polarisation level decreased from −19.1 to −27.8 dB and from −16.3
to −22.8 dB for horizontal and vertical polarisations, respectively.
Tables 1 and 2 compare the cross-polarisation level of cylindrical
array antenna at three different scan angles for horizontal and vertical
polarisations, respectively. These results show that the at different
scan angles the cross-polarisation level has been significantly improved.
Table 1: Horizontal-polarisation maximum cross-polarisation level
comparison

45 45
–20 –20
Main beam direction Normal configuration (dB) Image configuration (dB)
90 –30 90 –30
(u0 , w0 ) = (90W , 0W ) −21.8 −26.4
135
–40
135
–40 (u0 , w0 ) = (80W , 0W ) −21.0 −26.6
–50 –50 (u0 , w0 ) = (70W , 0W ) −19.1 −27.8
180 –60 180 –60
–90 –45 0 45 90 –90 –45 0 45 90
azimuth angle f, deg azimuth angle f, deg
Table 2: Vertical-polarisation maximum cross-polarisation level
0
co-polarisation V-pol
0 0
co-polarisation V-pol
0
comparison
Main beam direction Normal configuration (dB) Image configuration (dB)
zenith angle q, deg

–10 –10
zenith angle q, deg

45 45
–20 –20 (u0 , w0 ) = (90W , 0W ) −22.2 −27.7
90 –30 90 –30
(u0 , w0 ) = (80W , 0W ) −19.1 −27.5
(u0 , w0 ) = (70W , 0W ) −16.3 −22.8
–40 –40
135 135
–50 –50
Conclusion: In this Letter, a cross-polarisation suppression method in
180 –60 180 –60
–90 –45 0 45 90 –90 –45 0 45 90 dual linear polarisation antenna arrays has been applied to a cylindrical
azimuth angle f, deg azimuth angle f, deg array antenna. A 2 × 2 element sub-array with image configuration is
fabricated and the measurement results are presented. Simulation
Fig. 5 Horizontal (top) and vertical (bottom) polarisations, co- (left) and results of the cylindrical array antenna with cross-polarisation method
cross (right)-polarisation radiation patterns of the simulated cylindrical
showed a significant improvement in the cross-polarisation level of
array antenna with image configuration
cylindrical array antenna.
cross-polarisation H-pol cross-polarisation V-pol
0 0 0 0 Acknowledgment: The work was supported by NOAA grant no
–10 –10 NA110AR4320072.
zenith angle q, deg
zenith angle q, deg

45 45
–20 –20
90 –30 90 –30 © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
–40 –40 Submitted: 3 February 2017 E-first: 30 March 2017
135 135
–50 –50 doi: 10.1049/el.2017.0439
180 180 –60
One or more of the Figures in this Letter are available in colour online.
–60
–90 –45 0 45 90 –90 –45 0 45 90
azimuth angle f, deg azimuth angle f, deg
H. Saeidi-Manesh and G. Zhang (School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, Advanced Radar Research Center (ARRC), The
cross-polarisation H-pol cross-polarisation V-pol University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA)
0 0 0 0
✉ E-mail: hadi.saeidimanesh@ou.edu
zenith angle q, deg

–10 –10
zenith angle q, deg

45 45
–20 –20
G. Zhang: Also with School of Meteorology, The University of
90 –30 90 –30
Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019, USA
–40 –40
135 135 References
–50 –50
180 –60 180 –60
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–90 –45 0 45 90 –90 –45 0 45 90 USA, 2016), doi: 10.1109/78.790650
azimuth angle f, deg azimuth angle f, deg
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antenna cross-polarization suppression using a novel image configur-
Fig. 6 Comparison of horizontal (left) and vertical (right) polarisations, ation’. 2016 IEEE Int. Symp. on Antennas and Propagation
cross-polarisiation radiation pattern of simulated cylindrical array (APSURSI), Fajardo, Puerto Rico, June 2016, pp. 525–526, doi:
antenna with (bottom) and without (top) image configuration at the 10.1109/APS.2016.7695971
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For cross-polarisation suppression, the single elements are replaced 4 Zrnic, D., Doviak, R., Zhang, G., and Ryzhkov, A.: ‘Bias in differential
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Fig. 5, cross-polarisation type has been transformed from type-1 to

ELECTRONICS LETTERS 27th April 2017 Vol. 53 No. 9 pp. 577–578