The antenna pattern degradation by snow accretion on the reflector surface

A theoretical calculation is presented of antenna pattern characteristics under snow accretion on the reflector surface. Experimental data obtained using a vinyl chloride sheet indicate that in the elevation pattern, when the dielectric material has low loss, the position which causes a maximum phase distortion was about one-third of the reflector´s long axis from its bottom. In the case of wet snow which has some loss, a large degradation is also observed in the artificial snow accretion experiment.<>