Design and Full-Wave Analysis of Cavity-Backed Resistively Loaded Circular-End Bow-Tie Antennas for GPR Applications – Part I

In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of a novel GPR antenna featuring almost 30 : 1 relative bandwidth (55 MHz − >1.5 GHz), with a maximum antenna size of 40 cm is performed. Antenna transient behavior, near-field radiation, and impact of the ground are analyzed in details. It has been shown that the antenna exhibits reduced and short ringing, low spurious energy emission in the air region, as well as stable circuital and radiation properties over different types of soil. Furthermore, the analysis of buried pipe detection using two such antennas has been performed. Novelty of such investigation lies in the fact that at the lowest operational frequency both the receive antenna and buried pipe are situated in the near-field region, whilst at the highest operational frequency only the far field is playing the role. From this analysis, antenna coupling level and waveforms of the target return, which are of crucial importance for GPR system design, are determined. Index Terms – Antenna coupling, antenna transient behavior, bow-tie antenna, buried pipe, ground-penetrating radar, near-field radiation.

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