Investigation of GPR configurations by ray-tracing methods

Methods for locating and identifying buried assets are one focus of a large research project entitled ´mapping the underworld´. As of part of the project we are studying novel configurations for ground penetrating radar (GPR). There are two of important specifications for the GPR configurations: the bandwidth and the dynamic range. In this paper, the bandwidth and dynamic range of a GPR are investigated through simulations. Media that are typical of street environments were modeled is used in the simulations. A 2D ray-tracing model is used to simulate propagation in the ground to identify signal levels, bandwidths and dynamic ranges. A novel In-Pipe deployment and a conventional deployment scheme for GPR are examined using ray-tracing. Comparison of the results shows that the In-Pipe deployment scheme for the GPR has immediate advantages over the conventional one, in terms of having a wider available bandwidth and therefore resolution, and in having a lower dynamic range requirement.