Hertzian
Hertzian
All formulas
antennasintermediate

Antenna Effective Aperture

#aperture#effective area#antenna gain#capture area#dish antenna

Antenna Effective Aperture

The effective aperture (or effective area) represents the equivalent area from which an antenna extracts power from an incident electromagnetic wave. It directly relates antenna gain to physical size.

Ae=Gλ24πA_e = \frac{G \lambda^2}{4\pi}

Alternative Forms

Gain from Aperture
G=4πAeλ2G = \frac{4\pi A_e}{\lambda^2}
Calculate gain given physical aperture
With Efficiency
Ae=ηap⋅AphysicalA_e = \eta_{ap} \cdot A_{physical}
Effective aperture accounting for aperture efficiency

Input Variables

dBi

Gain of the antenna in dBi (converted to a linear ratio internally)(Range: 0 – 60 dBi)

MHz

Operating frequency(Range: 1 – 300000 MHz)

Results

Effective Aperture (A_e)
—

📖 Example: Parabolic Dish at 12 GHz

Calculate effective aperture of a 40 dBi dish antenna at 12 GHz

Related Formulas

antennas

Half-Wave Dipole Length

Physical length of a resonant half-wave dipole antenna

propagation

Friis Transmission Equation

Calculate received power given transmit power and antenna gains

transmission lines

Coaxial Cable Characteristic Impedance

Calculate impedance from coax dimensions and materials