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Radar System

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

GROUND PENETRATING RADAR (GPR) SUBSURFACE IMAGING — UWB IMPULSE ARCHITECTURE PULSEGenerator 500 ps - 5 ns TX ANTBowtie GROUND TX RX ANTBowtie GROUND RX Reflected from subsurface targets LNAWideband T/HSample Equiv. time ADCHigh Res STACKAverage Signal avg DISPLAYB-Scan Cross-section TRIGGER SYNC
Component Descriptions

Signal Chain Walkthrough

Ground Penetrating Radar transmits ultra-wideband (UWB) pulses into the ground and records reflections from subsurface interfaces (soil layers, pipes, rebar, voids, buried objects). The system produces cross-sectional images (B-scans) of the subsurface.

UWB Pulse Generator

Generates very short impulses (500 ps to 5 ns), producing bandwidths of 200 MHz to 2+ GHz. Shorter pulses give finer depth resolution but less penetration depth. Center frequencies typically range from 100 MHz (deep geological surveys) to 2 GHz (concrete inspection).

Bowtie Antennas

Separate TX and RX bowtie (or Vivaldi) antennas provide wideband, ground-coupled performance. The antenna is moved along the surface to build up a 2D cross-section (B-scan) or dragged in a grid for 3D volume imaging.

Equivalent-Time Sampling

The received signal is too fast for direct ADC sampling. A track-and-hold (T/H) circuit samples the waveform at a slightly different delay on each pulse, building up the time-domain waveform over many pulses (equivalent-time sampling).

Typical Specifications

Component Specifications

ComponentParameterTypical Value
Center FreqRange100 MHz - 2.5 GHz
Pulse WidthDuration0.5 - 5 ns
Depth ResolutionTypical2 - 30 cm
PenetrationDry soil0.5 - 30 m
PenetrationWet soil/clay0.1 - 3 m
StackingAverages16 - 2048 traces
Design Note: Soil moisture is the primary factor limiting penetration depth. Dry sand and ice allow penetration to 30+ meters at low frequencies. Wet clay may limit penetration to centimeters. Always select antenna frequency based on the depth/resolution tradeoff for your specific soil conditions. Migration processing (analogous to SAR azimuth compression) can sharpen point targets in the B-scan image.
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