Source localization using airborne vector sensors

The direction finding (DF) performance of an array of vector sensor antennas on a small aircraft is assessed. DF performance in the presence of additive noise, array manifold perturbations, and uncertainty of polarization parameters is examined with simulated data and compared to the Cramer-Rao lower bound. DF performance improvements are demonstrated with a least-squares type calibration technique with and without the use of synthetic antenna elements.