Using polarization diversity in the detection of small discontinuities by an ultra-wide band ground-penetrating radar

• Design of a shielded UWB bowtie slot antenna at frequencies 460 MHz to beyond 4 GHz.
• 3D FDTD simulations of a GPR system as a function of various parameters.
• Imaging of dielectric and conductive pipes using polarization diversity.
• Comparison of theoretical and experimental B-scans with buried pipes in a sand.

A ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been developed for civil engineering applications. Ultra-wide band (UWB) bowtie slot antennas operating at frequencies from 460 MHz to beyond 4 GHz have been designed to be integrated in a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) positioned very close to the soil surface. FDTD modeling has allowed to define the optimal geometrical parameters associated with the ground-coupled radar system that has been studied in two polarization configurations TE and TM. The ability of the GPR system in detecting small discontinuities using polarization diversity has been analyzed considering several buried canonical objects with different dielectric characteristics. Measurements in a sand box have been compared to full-wave simulations.