MetOp-SG Scatterometer Antenna Testing Golden Standard Measurement 2019

The DTU-ESA Spherical Near-Field Antenna Test Facility is engaged in the on-ground calibration and measurement of the C-band slotted waveguide array antenna for the scatterometer on board the three Series B satellites of the EUMETSAT/ESA MetOp-SG programme. This work presents the 2019 campaign of investigatory measurements, which goal is to assess the robustness of the measurement setup when mounting large masses on the AUT positioner, such as will be the case for the 300 kg MetOp-SG antennas, as well as the long-term reproducibility of the measurements. To this end a full measurement was performed, including complete uncertainty measurements, of the DTU Golden Standard array antenna (GS) in two configurations, unloaded and loaded with 303 kg of dummy weight. The measurements of the unloaded and loaded configurations were compared and it is demonstrated that the AUT positioner is capable of assuming an antenna with a mass comparable to the MetOp-SG without suffering any impact to its accuracy. For the long-term reproducibility. measurements were compared with a previous investigatory campaign of the same antenna dating from 2017.