Surface roughness estimation of a parabolic reflector

Abstract

Random surface deviations in a reflector antenna reduce the aperture efficiency. This communication presents a method for estimating the mean surface deviation of a parabolic reflector from a set of measured points. The proposed method takes into account systematic measurement errors, such as the offset between the origin of reference frame and the vertex of the surface, and the misalignment between the surface rotation axis and the measurement axis. The results will be applied to perform corrections to the surface of one of the 30 m diameter radiotelescopes at the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronom\'ia (IAR).