Wijnholds, Stefan J.Stefan J.WijnholdsPUPILLO, GiuseppeGiuseppePUPILLOBOLLI, PietroPietroBOLLIVirone, GiuseppeGiuseppeVirone2020-07-092020-07-092016978-1-4673-8801-6http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12386/26394Calibration of antenna positions and instrumental response is a crucial step in the commissioning of a phased array radio telescope. The Low Frequency Aperture Array system of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is envisaged to consist of about 131,000 antennas. In this paper, we propose a strategy to efficiently conduct commissioning calibration of such a large phased array radio telescope using a near-field probe mounted on an nmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method using simulations. This indicates that potentially cost-saving relaxation of requirements on placement accuracy is possible. We also propose to validate this method in practice using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR).STAMPAenConference paper10.1109/URSIAP-RASC.2016.76013752-s2.0-84995526727https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7601375FIS/05 - ASTRONOMIA E ASTROFISICAERC sectors::Physical Sciences and Engineering::PE9 Universe sciences: astro-physics/chemistry/biology; solar systems; stellar, galactic and extragalactic astronomy, planetary systems, cosmology, space science, instrumentation::PE9_17 Instrumentation – telescopes, detectors and techniques