Characteristics of electric antennas aboard scientific spacecraft

Abstract

To improve the accuracy of absolute calibration of a wire antenna which is used to observe electric fields on a scientific spacecraft, we analyzed the relationship between the antenna output voltage and electric field intensity. As a method we made "Rheometry experiment", measuring the output voltage of small model antenna which is placed in a known electric field in the water, and according to the result we investigate a theory considering the structure of antenna and the influence of the spacecraft body. We measured the frequency dependence of the effective length of a wire antenna at low frequencies, and made a theoretical method to describe the result of the experiment.