An electric field measurement of a scanning radar antenna

This article presents a novel method for measuring true root mean square (RMS) and peak values of electric field strength generated by a scanning radar antenna. The measuring equipment is a new electric field meter with an isotropic probe based on a diode detector, designed specifically for applications in a pulsed environment. The idea behind the method is a compensation of the detector's inertia for measuring short pulses with a low duty cycle ratio. Correction curves required for such compensation are generated by simulating the detector characteristics and four parameters of a scanning radar antenna. The curves provide a correction factor relating a peak and displayed electric field value. The simulated models have been verified by laboratory measurements for two different probes (100 kHz to 3 GHz and 10 MHz to 18 GHz). The method has been tested using on-site measurements of a typical airport surveillance radar and represents an improved solution for pulsed field measurements during normal operating modes of radar transmitters to aid in evaluating electromagnetic field dosimetry.