Angle of arrival estimation for all‐sky interferometric meteor radar systems

Simulations have been used to investigate angle of arrival (AOA) estimation for all‐sky interferometric meteor radars using the Jones et al. (1998) antenna configuration. The results suggest that the use of 2λ spacing phase differences significantly improves AOA accuracy, while use of wraparound and differencing the sines of the zenith angles lead to small improvements in AOA accuracy. The combined use of 2λ spacing, wraparound, and differencing the sines of the zenith angles reduces the percentage of estimates outside ±1° of the actual AOA by a factor of 2.5. The results suggest that the use of 2.5, 3, and 5.5λ spacing produces more accurate AOA estimates than the standard 2, 2.5, and 4.5λ spacing and that the optimal spacing for the addition of a fourth antenna to each antenna arm is around 20λ.