Wide-frequency-band radar array antenna system with suppressed grating lobes

When array antennas are used for wide-frequency operation a difficulty with grating lobes is encountered at the upper frequency end of the operating band. This paper points out that the use of arrays for transmission and reception with different interelement spacings can be used to extend the operating frequency band in a radar system. The principle of transmitting-receiving arrays with different illuminations was used by Mattingly [2] to lower the sidelobe level of a radar array antenna. Birge [3] used it to reduce the number of elements in an array while preserving the resolution. The same principle is used in this paper to extend the operating frequency bandwidth of a radar antenna system. Relationships for an optimized radar array antenna system are derived. The criterion for optimization is the maximum bandwidth with a given total number of elements. It is shown that in an optimized system the number of elements in one array antenna is one greater than in the other, and the ratio of interelement spacings is inversely proportional to the square of the number of elements in the respective arrays. Based on these conditions, a function is computed and tabulated. This function determines the number of grating lobes permissible in the specified angular sector, without overlap, as a function of the number of elements in the two arrays. An application to a high frequency (HF) ionospheric radar antenna system, now under construction, is used as an illustration of the principles outlined in the paper.