Antenna Theory: What is an Effective Aperture?

[JamesC26]

Hi folks,

Currently working on a project at university, and I have a question on antenna theory.

When talking about the "effective aperture" of an antenna, what exactly is this ?

I have found this explanation but I can't quite get my head round it...
"effective aperture parameter describes how much power is captured from a given plane wave"

Could someone please explain.

Thanks,
James

 

[zoki85]

Google is your friend: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_aperture