Buried pipe detection by ground penetrating radar using the discrete wavelet transform

Abstract Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is widely used for non-invasive examination of man-made structures, especially to determine the depth of pipes buried underground. Unfortunately, shallower objects may obscure GPR raw data that is reflected from deeper ones. This study introduces a signal processing technique, called the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), to filter and enhance the GPR raw data in order to obtain higher quality profile images. Laboratory experiments were conducted and the locations of buried pipes under different conditions were analyzed. The buried pipes were made of plastic and metal, and both single and two parallel horizontal pipes are discussed. The experimental results indicate that the DWT profiles can provide more information than the traditional GPR profile. The images of the diameter and position of pipes, even two pipes of different materials and in horizontal alignment, can be enhanced by using the DWT profile.