Compact UWB radiator for short-range GPR applications

In this paper the design of an UWB antenna for short-range impulse GPR applications is presented. The antenna consists of an UWB radiator and a metallic shielding. The radiator is based on a modified bow-tie antenna that in comparison with conventional bow-tie antennas shows improvement in the form of higher radiation efficiency and reduced dimension. Using resistive loading with certain loading profile, the antenna's late-time ringing is minimized for allowing detection of shallowly-buried objects. The shielding has a shape of a simple rectangular box. By means of FDTD simulations its dimensions have been optimized to maximize radiation in the broadside direction of the antenna. The radiator and the shielding have been constructed for experimental verifications.