Design of an ultra-wideband ground-penetrating radar system using impulse radiating antennas

At TNO-FEL, one of the research programs is to explore the use of ultra-wideband (UWB) electromagnetic fields in a bi-static ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system for the detection, location and identification of buried items of unexploded ordnance (e.g. land mines). In the present paper we describe the current status of the development of this system. The UWB ground-penetrating radar system is designed to operate in the frequency band from 200 MHz to 3 GHz and uses impulse radiating antennas (IRAs) as transponders to radiate and receive very short electromagnetic pulses from a short distance above the soil. The receiving IRA is similar to the transmitting IRA and is connected to a receiving unit which comprises an attenuator, time gate switch, trigger delay generator and a sampling oscilloscope. A personal computer is used to control the equipment. In order to perform controlled radar experiments, a full-size experimental and testing facility has been erected on the premises of TNO-FEL.