Abstract
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has been widely used to detect subsurface objects, such as hidden cavities, buried pipes, and manholes, owing to its noncontact sensing, rapid scanning, and deeply penetrating remote-sensing capabilities. Currently, GPR data interpretation depends heavily on the experience of well-trained experts because different types of underground objects often generate similar GPR reflection features. Moreover, reflection visualizations that were obtained from field GPR data for urban roads are often weak and noisy. This study proposes a novel instantaneous phase analysis technique to address these issues. The proposed technique aims to enhance the visibility of underground objects and provide objective criteria for GPR data interpretation so that the objects can be automatically classified without expert intervention. The feasibility of the proposed technique is validated both numerically and experimentally. The field test utilizes rarely available GPR data for urban roads in Seoul, South Korea and demonstrates that the technique allows for successful visualization and classification of three different types of underground objects.
Highlights
Sinkholes are one of the most severe threats to urban roads
It can be difficult to confirm the presence of a cavity. This study addresses these issues by proposing an instantaneous phase analysis technique for underground object classification
The measured ground-penetrating radar (GPR) signals were collected with a GEOSCOPE MK IV data acquisition system that was provided by 3D-RADAR, which has a time resolution of 0.35 ns and a maximum sampling rate of 13,000 Hz
Summary
Sinkholes are one of the most severe threats to urban roads. Sudden ground collapse can lead to road closure, economic loss, and human fatalities and injuries. The main applications of GPR have been in the archeological and geological fields, where it is used for mapping subsurface features [7,8,9] It has been applied for other fields [10], including demining [11], identifying veins of the mineral [12], monitoring of mines and tunnels [13], and forensic applications [14]. Interactions between the electromagnetic waves and underground objects can be identified more by representing the measured time domain signal ( 1 vector) as a weighted linear combination of bases via the following transformation. Electromagnetic waves are typically attenuated as they propagate through a medium [23] This phenomenon can be represented as [24]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
