Advancing ground-based radar processing for bridge infrastructure monitoring

Abstract

In this study, we further develop the processing of ground-based interferometric radar measurements for the application of bridge monitoring. Applying ground-based radar in such complex setups or long measurement durations requires advanced processing steps to receive accurate measurements. These steps involve removing external influences from the measurement and evaluating the measurement uncertainty during processing. External influences include disturbances caused by objects moving through the signal, static clutter from additional scatterers, and changes in atmospheric properties. After removing these influences, the line-of-sight displacement vectors, measured by multiple ground-based radars, are decomposed into three-dimensional displacement components. The advanced processing steps are applied exemplarily on measurements with two sensors at a prestressed concrete bridge near Coburg (Germany). The external influences are successfully removed, and two components of the three-dimensional displacement vector are determined. A measurement uncertainty of less than 0.1 mm is achieved for the discussed application.