Distortion of sensed electric field by conducting sensor platforms

Charged objects such as aircraft and projectiles create a moving electric field which can be detected by sensors in the vicinity of such objects. Arrays of these sensors can be used to estimate charge, position, and velocity of the charged objects. Sensor platforms generally distort these electric fields. For some applications, it is beneficial to know how the platforms distort these electric fields. Several closed form, analytical solutions for electric fields around simple geometries were constructed and compared to equivalent Method of Moments (MoM) numerical solutions. Other MoM models permit analysis of fields that cannot be solved in closed form. These models can be used to design electric-field sensor systems used to detect, localize, and range charged aircraft or projectiles.