Modeling GPR signal degradation from random rough ground surface

This study attempts to quantify the clutter variation with ground roughness by numerically simulating the wideband scattering of experimentally measured GPR signals by realistic, dispersive soil interfaces. The authors employ a 2D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method to analyze the delay and amplitude characteristics of ground scattered waves as a function of roughness parameters. Five hundred Monte Carlo simulations of each test case of specified ground root mean square height and correlation length were run with and without a nonmetallic mine target to generate statistics for the clutter and target signal variations. Results indicate that even with moderate roughness, statistics can be generated to enhance the detection of small, shallow, low contrast targets.