Passive Direction Finding Using Airborne Vector Sensors in the Presence of Manifold Perturbations

This paper studies direction finding of electromagnetic energy sources using passive vector sensor arrays whose manifold is only nominally known. The problem of direction finding is studied in the context of an airborne array, thus facilitating the observation of a ground-based source from multiple look-angles. A calibration algorithm explicitly accounting for the polarization diverse nature of the vector sensor is developed. It is also shown that the direction finding performance provided by a conventional array calibration algorithm is greatly enhanced with usage of the proposed polarization diverse calibration algorithm