Ultra-Wideband, Fully Polarimetric Ground Penetrating Radar for UXO Discrimination

Abstract

Abstract : This project addressed the Tri-Service Environmental Quality Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Strategic Plan, unexploded ordnance (UXO) requirements, which state in part [1]. There are more than twenty million acres of bombing and target ranges under DoD control.... Each year a significant fraction (200,000-500,000 acres) of these spaces are returned to civilian (Private or Commercial) use. All these areas must be surveyed for buried ordnance and other hazardous materials, rendered certified and safe for the intended end use. This is an extremely labor intensive and expensive process, with costs often far exceeding the value of the land. Improved technologies for locating, identifying and marking ordnance items must be developed to address all types of terrain, such as open fields, wooded areas, rugged inaccessible areas, and underwater sites. Similar requirements are reflected in the U.S. Army Requirement A(1.6a), titled: Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) Screening, Detection, and Discrimination [2] and described in the FY99 Army Environmental Requirements and Technology Assessments (AERTA). This Army requirement has been ranked as the highest priority user need in the Environmental Cleanup Pillar. In addition, this project addressed the UXO detection and discrimination requirements and recommendations described in the Defense Science Board Task Force Final Report on UXO Clearance and Remediation published in 1998 [3]. In response to these regulatory requirements, demonstrations were carried out for the purpose of establishing the buried UXO discrimination capabilities of an ultra-wideband (UWB), fully polarimetric GPR. The GPR system and processing were intended to incorporate the broadest capabilities and most current sophistications available so that some speculations could be made as to the discrimination capabilities of current GPR technology per se, not simply of the system used in the tests.