Low-Cost, Lightweight UWB Antenna Design for Humanitarian Drone-Launched GPR Surveys

Drone-based GPR surveys could have a myriad of humanitarian applications, ranging from search and rescue and recovery missions after earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters, to the detection of landmines and unexploded ordnance. We explore the feasibility of low-cost, lightweight components for the construction of drone-mounted ultrawideband (UWB) antennas and evaluate the acquisition system and software necessary to generate near real-time images in order to be effective for such GPR applications.