The single-antenna technique proposed in this paper was developed for measuring the radar cross-section at near-field distances in a real environment, from reflection coefficient measurements on the antenna. The near-field radar cross-section is corrected with an analytical factor calculated as a ratio between the radar cross-section computed at far-field and near-field. The analytical correction factor takes into account the effects of the diffraction at the edges of the target at incidence angles higher than 20°. An improved, distance averaging technique is proposed to reduce the multipath propagation effects. A time-gating procedure is additionally used in order to better isolate the reflection from the target and to remove the real environment contributions. The method was successfully tested on a rectangular metallic plate as a target over a wide frequency band, at normal and oblique incidence angles; however, it might also work for arbitrarily shaped targets, because they can actually be divided into small rectangular patches.

Protected wetlands such as deltas, lakes or rivers provide a sanctuary for many endangered species. In order to protect these areas from illegal human interventions, it is necessary to monitor the unauthorized entrance of motor boats. In order to mitigate such an impact, we have developed a network of floating beacons for underwater acoustic monitoring, using LoRa communication modules operating at 433 MHz. Such beacons should be equipped with compact antennas. In this paper, we use a genetic algorithm approach to design the compact, monopole antennas required for the beacons; size constraints would apply not only to the radiating element but also to the ground plane. Although the antenna input is unbalanced, such a small ground plane may yield common mode currents on the antenna feeder, which distort the radiation pattern of the antenna. In order to investigate the effect of the common mode currents, we developed a distance averaging method, while, for characterizing the antenna, we used a single-antenna method. For the experimental validation of the system in real conditions, a continuous monitoring of the lake was carried out. During the monitoring, multiple events generated by incursions of motor boats were successfully detected and recorded.

Electric discharges in high-voltage power distribution systems can be localized through their electromagnetic signature in the radio-frequency range. Since discharges produce series of short pulses, the corresponding spectrum usually covers wide frequency ranges, typically up to 1 GHz. In this paper, we propose an ultra-wide band (UWB) antenna system and a direction-finding (DF) approach based on using energy-based descriptors, instead of classical frequency-domain parameters. As an antenna system, we propose a dual-padlock configuration with a suitable pulse-matched response, featuring two unbalanced outputs. The proposed antenna system was successfully validated, both by simulations and measurements.