Language selection

Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Search

Beam maps of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) measured with a drone

From National Research Council Canada

Download
  1. (PDF, 9.3 MiB)
DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/OJAP.2025.3554457
AuthorSearch for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6196-5955; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1760-0868; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0645-7842; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: 1ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2465-8937; Search for: ; Search for: ; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5089-7472; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-229X; Search for: ; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7509-7247; Search for: ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7314-9496
Affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics
FunderSearch for: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Search for: National Science Foundation; Search for: Dunlap Institute at the University of Toronto
FormatText, Article
Subjectantenna measurements; telescopes; remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs); drones; extraterrestrial measurements; acoustic beams; calibration; payloads; instruments; transmitting antennas; sea measurements
Abstract
We present beam measurements of the CHIME telescope using a radio calibration source deployed on a drone payload. During test flights, the pulsing calibration source and the telescope were synchronized to GPS time, enabling in-situ background subtraction for the full N² visibility matrix for one CHIME cylindrical reflector. We use the autocorrelation products to estimate the primary beam width and centroid location, and compare these quantities to solar transit measurements and holographic measurements where they overlap on the sky. We find that the drone, solar, and holography data have similar beam parameter evolution across frequency and both spatial coordinates. This paper presents the first drone-based beam measurement of a large cylindrical radio interferometer. Furthermore, the unique analysis and instrumentation described in this paper lays the foundation for near-field measurements of experiments like CHIME.
Publication date
PublisherIEEE
Licence
In
  • IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation 6, no. 3 (24 March 2025): 928–940.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
Export citationExport as RIS
Report a correctionReport a correction (opens in a new tab)
Record identifier9831c9e6-d7dd-4174-9097-7008bc781fc8
Record created2025-06-27
Record modified2025-06-27
Date modified: