System and method for adaptable aperture planar phased array

A method of maintaining source resolution for an adaptable aperture planar array movable relative to a source comprising:

• providing a plurality of sensor elements that each include a coordinate location in the array;
• determining a position of the array relative to the source;
• computing a first nested array responsive to a first range of frequencies based on the position of the array, the first nested array including a first subset of the plurality of sensor elements;
• computing a second nested array that is larger than the first nested array, the second nested array including a second subset of the plurality of sensor elements that includes at least one sensor element associated with the first subset;
• acquiring data associated with the first range of frequencies with the first subset of the plurality of sensor elements;
• acquiring data associated with the second range of frequencies with the second subset of the plurality of sensor elements;
• determining that the position of the array relative to the source has changed;
• recomputing the first nested array based on the changed position of the array;
• and
• recomputing the second nested array based on the changed position of the array, with the recomputing of the first nested array and the second nested array maintaining the source resolution for the array.

A system for an adaptable aperture planar array for maintaining source resolution as the array moves relative to a source comprising:

• a source having a longitudinal axis;
• a plurality of sensor elements each having a coordinate location within the array;
• a first nested array defining a first aperture responsive to a first range of frequencies, the first aperture sized based on an angle between the array and the source, the first aperture including a first subset of the plurality of sensor elements, with each of the plurality of sensor elements within the first subset having coordinate locations within the first aperture;
• a second nested array defining a second aperture responsive to a second range of frequencies that is less than the first range of frequencies, the second aperture larger than the first aperture and including a second subset of the plurality of sensor elements that includes at least one of the plurality of sensor elements associated with the first nested array, with each of the plurality of sensor elements within the second subset having coordinate locations within the second aperture;
• a third nested array defining a third aperture responsive to a third range of frequencies that is less than the first range of frequencies and the second range of frequencies, the third aperture larger than the first aperture and the second aperture and including a third subset of the plurality of sensor elements that includes at least one of the plurality of sensor elements associated with the first subset and at least one of the plurality of sensor elements associated with the second subset, with each of the plurality of sensor elements within the third subset having coordinate locations within the third aperture;
• and
• a control module that resizes the first aperture, the second aperture and the third aperture based on the position of the array relative to the source, and changes the plurality of sensor elements associated with the first subset, the second subset and the third subset based on the coordinate locations of the plurality of sensor elements within the resized first aperture, second aperture and third aperture to maintain the source resolution of the array.