A Novel Half Ring LHCP Printed Cross Dipole Antenna for UHF Glacial Environmental Sensor Networks

A novel left hand circularly polarized half ring printed cross dipole antenna has been designed and tested for use with surface receivers of glacial environmental sensor networks (ESNs). The antenna offers substantial improvements in terms of smaller profile, wider half power beamwidths in both E and H planes, lower axial ratio, and better rejection of cross polarized radiation as compared to the antennas previously developed for deploying an ESN at the Thwaites glacier, Antarctica. At an operating frequency of 433 MHz in snow, the antenna provides a gain of 5.9 dBic, half power beamwidths of 62.1° in E/H planes, an axial ratio of 0.26 dB, and a minimum difference of 18.3 dB between co and cross polarizations in E/H planes within a beamwidth of 60°.