Indoor 3D Full Polarimetric Bistatic Spherical Facility for Electromagnetic Tests

Abstract

A new indoor facility for electromagnetic measurements has been developed and built at the Detectability and Electronic Warfare Laboratory, INTA, Spain. The system was designed to extend the previous capabilities so that not only monostatic but also bistatic radar cross section (RCS) tests could be easily conducted. Due to limited space, far-field radar cross sections in the system are restricted to small targets, but this layout will allow the researchers to investigate ReS near-field-to-far-field transformations. The system was also conceived to be versatile enough to carry out other tests, such as near-field antenna measurements, material-absorption measurements, and electromagnetic characterization of materials. The paper describes the novel concept behind the facility, and presents some preliminary measurement results on different applications.