Laboratory Experimental Setup For Cross-Well Radar

Cross Well Radar is a technique that uses Ground Penetrating Radar, with antennas that are lowered into sampling wells in-situ by cable. Radar waves are emitted from a transmitting antenna in one well propagate through the ground to a receiving antenna in a second well to image the dielectric properties of soils for detecting contaminants (such as DNAPLs). To better understand the physics of CWR in soils, it is necessary to experimentally evaluate and validate the behavior of antennas in soil. A proto-type model of infinite soil media is experimentally simulated by constructing a SoilBed facility. The objective of this paper is to explain and evaluate different factors effecting experimental data collection and calibrating the results. Depth, antenna installing problems, soil disturbance and boundary conditions effects have been experimentally evaluated. Other (desired or undesired) transmission coupling and paths were studied, and efforts were conducted to eliminate the undesired paths.