Influence of acquisition related uncertainties on ground penetrating radar inversion results

Ground penetrating radar non-destructive testing requirements become more demanding. In that respect, it is essential to understand how antenna transfer functions and real system dynamic range affect the amount of retrievable information from measurements. This paper examines the confidence level of linear system transfer functions, and practical aspects of noise floor influence on stepped frequency ground penetrating radar. Small inaccuracies in antenna equations directly reflect in Green's function errors. Degradation of the numerical signal resolution was imposed by limiting the data resolution to two-bytes. The capability of the field system to detect thin layering in building materials using numerical modeling studies has been investigated. This would lead to the assumption that the radar model is correct and the only errors are due to inaccuracies in the data and the finite precision determination of the system's linear transfer functions. Systematic errors characterization is partially possible, limiting uncertainty in the data. A link seems to exist between the data precision and the possibility of information extrapolation for different settings.