Case Study: International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) achieves accurate Murchison Widefield Array beam characterization and major time savings with Altair FEKO

Characterizing the Murchison Widefield Array Beam Pattern

The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) tackled the challenge of accurately characterizing the direction-dependent beam pattern of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) — a 128‑tile precursor to the SKA whose tiles are 4×4 arrays of 16 antenna elements — because precise beam models are essential for calibration and imaging. To meet this need ICRAR worked with Altair using its electromagnetic simulation tool FEKO to move beyond analytical approximations and generate rigorous full‑array simulations.

Altair’s FEKO automated the setup of nearly 7,000 configurations (218 frequency points across 49.92–327.68 MHz × 16 elements × 2 polarizations), used Method of Moments solvers, spherical modal coefficients, lumped RLC LNA models and a soil/ground-plane representation to reconstruct full embedded element (FEE) beam patterns. The FEKO‑based approach delivered huge time savings through automation, kept simulation time acceptable, and produced FEE models that showed vast improvements in Q‑leakage accuracy over analytic and average‑element methods — a measurable gain that validates the beam models and underpins future SKA low telescope work.

International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR)

Daniel Ung

International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR)