Development of an Airborne-Based GPR System for Landmine and IED Detection: Antenna Analysis and Intercomparison

Airborne-based Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) systems have proved to be an efficient solution for safe and accurate detection of buried threats such as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines. The design of these prototypes is influenced by several parameters such as the working frequency band or the maximum weight and size of the payload to be placed on board the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). In this sense, one of the main bottlenecks found in the design of these systems is the proper selection of the GPR antenna. This contribution focuses on the analysis of different Ultra Wideband (UWB) Vivaldi antennas and their performance in the context of an airborne-based GPR system. First, the Vivaldi antennas are characterized in terms of
$S_{11}$
, radiation pattern, directivity, and phase center. Next, they are placed on board the implemented airborne-based GPR prototype to assess their impact on the detection capabilities of the system. In addition, other criteria such as the weight and size of the antennas are considered to make the final selection. Finally, the selected UWB Vivaldi antennas are tested in a realistic scenario.