Abstract
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has proved to be a successful technique for the detection of landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) buried in the ground. In the last years, novel architectures for safe and fast detection, such as those based on GPR systems onboard Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), have been proposed. Furthermore, improvements in GPR hardware and signal processing techniques have resulted in a more efficient detection. This contribution presents an experimental validation of a hybrid Forward-Looking–Down-Looking GPR architecture. The main goal of this architecture is to combine advantages of both GPR architectures: reduction of clutter coming from the ground surface in the case of Forward-Looking GPR (FLGPR), and greater dynamic range in the case of Down-Looking GPR (DLGPR). Compact radar modules working in the lower SHF frequency band have been used for the validation of the hybrid architecture, which involved realistic targets.
Highlights
Forward-Looking GPR (FLGPR)-Down-Looking GPR (DLGPR) system, a quantitative analysis based on a simplified propagation model is presented
FLGPR-DLGPR architecture to detect shallowly buried objects, being supported by the discussion presented in Section 4 based on a quantitative analysis
In all the presented results clutter due to air-ground reflection within the scanning area is weaker than the reflection on the buried target, as the incident field on the ground within the scanning area is mainly reflected away from the DL-Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Rx antenna
Summary
Non-invasive detection of buried objects can be conducted using different techniques, such as ultrasound, magnetic induction (metal detectors), and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The latter is suitable to detect either metallic or non-metallic targets [1], making it appropriate for infrastructure inspection [2,3], archaeological survey [4], material characterization [5] or landmine and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) detection [6,7]. GPR systems operate in a monostatic or quasi-monostatic configuration (in which the receiving and transmitting antennas are close to each other in terms of wavelengths). These systems can be further grouped in Forward-Looking GPR (FLGPR) and Down-Looking
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