Rapid determination of steered array shading coefficients by a method of aperture sample density correction

An economical method of adapting shading distributions, defined in planar or linear apertures, for use with a broad class of arrays is descibed. The method involves modifying the shading function to compensate for nonuniformities in the distribution of spatial sample points in a plane parallel to wavefronts incident from a desired steering direction. These nonuniformities are induced by the nonplanar geometry of the array. Results are presented for a simulated conformal (parabolic) array, and a nonuniformly spaced linear array.