A Low-Profile CPW-Fed Spline-Based Antenna for In-Flight Spectrum Surveillance System

This paper reports an experimental use of a lowprofile coplanar waveguide (CPW) fed spline-based antenna in a spectrum surveillance system employing a drone as a flying platform which is flown 10 meters above the ground level. The proposed antenna has the working frequency range satisfiable the characteristics of ultra-wideband (UWB) from the frequency of 2.3 GHz to more than 20 GHz, with the reflection coefficient less than -10 dB. The antenna is utilized to support a drone-based spectrum surveillance system operating in an observation range from the frequency of 100 MHz to 6 GHz. The performance of proposed antenna is then compared with two commonly used monopole reference antennas, both in on-ground condition when the drone is on the ground surface, and in-flight condition when the drone is on the airborne. The experimental results demonstrate that in in-flight condition, the antenna can effectively provide better power reception than other two reference antennas in the surveilled range.