Ground penetrating abilities of a new coherent radio wave and microwave imaging spectrometer

The early use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and lidar systems from aircraft and space shuttles revealed the ability of the signals to penetrate the ground surface. Atomic dielectric resonance (ADR) technology was developed as an improvement over SAR and ground penetrating radar (GPR) to achieve deeper penetration of the Earth's subsurface through the creation and use of a novel type of coherent beam. When pulsed electromagnetic radio waves pass through a material, they generate measurable responses in terms of energy, frequency, and phase relationships. A deployment of the ADR equipment in a field study of a measured section of Dinantian sediments in a disused quarry at Cults, Fife, Scotland, has confirmed the ability of the method to distinguish the lithologic type and their respective thickness ranging from limestones through sandstones, siltstones, seatearths, and coals. Borehole data were used to corroborate the ADR imaging spectrometer. The signal penetrated more deeply into the ground than the 20 m height of the exposed rock section, and it showed good correlation with records from two nearby boreholes that extend to lower levels. Reliable lithological recognition at ground penetration of more than 90 m had been achieved. ADR was also deployed over deeper borehole sites in the Limestone Coal Formation at Higham and Lathones, Fife, Scotland. Here the signal was shown to penetrate the subsurface to depths of 225 and 580 m, respectively. A subsequent field deployment of ADR at Cousland, Midlothian, Scotland, demonstrated subsurface penetration in the Lower Limestone Formation by ADR to 700 m – as confirmed from nearby boreholes.