Requirements for the performance of a ground-penetrating radar system in searching for cavities

Abstract The requirements for the performance of a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system for detecting subsurface cavities are analyzed by numerical modeling of the GPR problem. The algorithm used to solve the forward GPR problem is approximated to a real experiment with regard to the design of the GPR system, the parameters of the source and receiver, and their position relative to the medium under study and its inhomogeneity. We calculated the spatiotemporal distribution of the field of the detected signal from a pulse source located at the interface between the medium and a cavity anomaly of a given geometry. The results were used to estimate the dynamic range of the GPR system necessary for determining the anomaly. We also performed GPR surveys of low-contrast inhomogeneities (cavities in mines) using GROT 12 GPR systems and analyzed the survey results by numerical modeling. It is shown that the GPR performance required to detect and locate inhomogeneities of interest at a certain sounding depth can be estimated in the experiment design phase.