An Antenna Solution for Glacial Environmental Sensor Networks

• Published in: IEEE access 2023-01, Vol.11, p.1-1
• Main Authors: Hashmi, Muhammad Abdur Rehman, Brennan, Paul V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 433 MHz frequency; Antenna design; Antennas; bent cross dipole; Boreholes; Circular polarization; communication through ice; cross dipole; Dipole antennas; Englacial sensor probe; glacier monitoring; Glaciers; Helical antennas; link budget framework; Microstrip antennas; planar printed antenna; Probes; Receivers & amplifiers; Sensors; Thwaites project; Transceivers; Transmitting antennas; Wireless communication; Wireless sensor networks
• ISSN: 2169-3536; 2169-3536
• DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3287492

Antennas used in glacial environmental sensor networks and reported in the last two decades have been reviewed. A link budget framework for designing such antenna systems is presented and used to design an antenna system for deployment at the Thwaites glacier, Antarctica. Design details of two left hand circularly polarized cross dipole antennas, one for englacial sensor probes and the other for supraglacial surface receivers are presented. The probe antenna is a 3D bent cross dipole that fits within a borehole of 8 cm diameter while providing a 1 dBic gain at 433 MHz in ice. The surface receiver antenna is a planar printed antenna providing a gain of 6.1 dBic with a quarter wave reflector. Both antennas provide 3 dB beamwidths of at least 50° in the xz and yz vertical planes catering for transmitter-receiver antenna misalignments caused by extended deployments. The antennas displayed good circular polarization and polarization purity traits. The 3 dB axial ratio bandwidths of both the antennas remained 54.9 %. The total efficiencies of the bent cross dipole and the surface receiver antennas were noted as 69.7 % and 86.9 % respectively. Lastly, the 433 MHz band has been validated for achieving englacial communication ranges of up to 2300 metres.