Modeling and investigation of a geometrically complex UWB GPR antenna using FDTD

A detailed analysis of ultrawide-band (UWB), dual-polarized, dielectric-loaded horn-fed bow-tie (HFB) antennas is carried out using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD model includes realistic features of the antenna structure such as the feeding cables, wave launchers, dielectric loading, and resistive-film loading. Important antenna characteristics that are usually difficult to obtain via measurements can be obtained more directly from this FDTD model. Since the HFB antennas under consideration are intended for ground penetrating radar (GPR) applications, the effects of the half-space medium are also investigated. The simulated results serve to verify the performance of the HFB antenna design, and to optimize various antenna parameters.