Performances of a stepped-frequency continuous-wave ground penetrating radar

Ground penetrating radars (GPRs) are used to detect surface laid or shallowly buried objects. They can work either in the time or frequency domains. This paper presents the performances of newly developed stepped frequency continuous wave ground penetrating radar operating from 400 MHz to 4845 MHz, to provide good penetration and high resolution, which works with parallel and sequential transmission. We show the advantage of using circularly polarized waves for reproducing the shape of the target. The paper regards system calibration, antenna footprint, and range and cross-range resolution. The experimental results refer to surface laid as well as shallowly buried metallic and dielectric objects and show the ability of the radar not only to detect but to exhibit the shape of the targets.

► Measure the antenna footprint by translating the 128 frequency in time domain.
► Apply a software defined time gate in order to remove the reflections.
► Determine the real system footprint for the entire operational band.
► Ability of SFCWGPR to detect shallowly buried objects and to reproduce their shape.
► Evaluation of cross -range and down range resolution of an SFCWGPR.