Metamaterial split-ring resonators for retrieval of soil electromagnetic properties

A new application of a metamaterial-inspired inclusion, i.e. the Split-Ring Resonator (SRR), combined with a commercial Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is presented. An SRR is embedded within a soil sample and excited by the GPR antenna. Exploiting the resonant properties of the inclusion, the dielectric permittivity of a typical soil is estimated by observing the GPR data. The proposed method turns out to be very quick and the results are in agreement with many findings in the open technical literature. The point of strength of this approach is the combination of GPR technology and metamaterial concepts that leads to a quick and accurate in-situ estimation, i.e. not-destructive, of the dielectric properties of the underground.