Radio Interferometer Array Point Spread Functions II. Evaluation and Optimization

The PSF of several sample arrays, including pseudo-random and circular arrays, are evaluated. The distribution of sidelobes is shown to closely follow the theoretical distribution derived in the companion paper [1]. An optimization procedure is developed that produces configurations with peak sidelobes close to the expected limit given in [1] and with a smooth progression from small peaks near the center of the PSF and the largest peaks at the edge of the primary beam. Plotting the peak sidelobe as a function of the radial distance from the center of the PSF is shown to be very useful for evaluating the PSF. The optimized arrays provide a benchmark against which other configurations can be compared.