Reduced Size VIPIR Antenna

Ionospheric measurement RADARs, known as ionosondes, operate in the MF and HF bands (1 MHz to 30 MHz). Vertical incidence pulsed radar (VIPIR) sends signals to be reflected by the ionosphere’s layers and captured on the ground. Due to the characteristics of power and directivity, the antennas currently used for VIPIR emission signals are very large and require expensive and complex assemblies due to their technical complements such as towers, ground systems, and lightning rods. Here is a design of a low-floor-mount spiral antenna and a ground plane for VIPIR UD transmission antenna. VIPIR UD system is an ionosonde in design that is to be reduced in size to reduce investment. The design of the antenna and ground planer is assumed from the requirements of location, gain, power management and directivity, performed on MATLAB- Antenna toolbox together with an optimization tool "surrogate model assisted differential evolution for antenna synthesis" (SADEA). The findings indicate that the proposed system meets the requirements and exceeds the directivity by as much as 6 dBi for 80% of the target band and the less structure design allows for easier assembly of the radar, requiring minor structural support and height, which reduces the budget for assembly, operation, and maintenance.