A new general purpose 1300 MHz radar sensor suitable for detection of mines

A three man year project has been held at IDS, aimed at developing pulse radar sensors for ground penetrating radars. The center-band frequency of our class of sensors ranges from 30 to 3000 MHz while the high PRF allows a strong reduction of noise without scarifying the data throughput. Within this family, also a general purpose pulse radar sensor has been developed, with the main aim of a high resolution down to 1 m of depth (for most terrain): its center-band frequency is of the order of 1300 MHz and is characterised by reduced dimensions and weight. The paper deals with the design of the whole sensor family, focusing on this last kind of sensor, its characteristics, the experimental data and the most relevant theoretical results obtained during the design phase. Due to its lightweight, it can be easily held at a few cm from the soil, thus avoiding mine explosion. Field tests have proved the effectiveness of this antenna for the detection of anti tank and anti personnel mines, buried pipes, discontinuities and imperfections in walls and asphalt.