Ground penetrating radar antenna system analysis for prediction of earth material properties

The electrical properties of the ground directly beneath a ground penetrating radar (GPR) antenna very close to the Earth's surface (ground-coupled) must be known in order to predict the antenna response. In order to investigate changing antenna response with varying ground properties, a series of finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulations were made for a bistatic (fixed horizontal offset between transmitting and receiving antennas) antenna array over a homogeneous ground. We examine the viability of using an inversion algorithm based on the simulated received waveforms to estimate the material properties of the earth near the antennas. Our analysis shows that, for a constant antenna height above the earth, the amplitude of certain frequencies in the received signal can be used to invert for the permittivity and conductivity of the ground. Once the antenna response is known, then the wave field near the antenna can be determined and sharper images of the subsurface near the antenna can be made.