Design of Active V-Dipole Antenna on UAS for Receiving NOAA Polar Satellite Imagery

Abstract

In suboptimal environments for satellite reception, an unmanned aerial system (UAS) can navigate to a higher vantage point to receive better quality satellite broadcasts. Small UAS platforms are constrained by weight and size, making VHF antenna implementation difficult for satellite reception onboard a UAS. This research designs, simulates, and implements a small form factor V-dipole antenna with matching circuit and low-noise amplifiers to receive high-quality National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite imagery and weather data from a custom DJI Matrice 100 UAS platform. A software-defined radio was used to filter and demodulate VHF satellite signals, and an Nvidia TX2-embedded computer processed the satellite images onboard the UAS. Performance was evaluated by the quality of the image reception and practicality of the antenna design in flight.