FDTD based numerical framework for ground penetrating radar simulation

Abstract

In this paper, a one-dimensional numerical framework based on Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method is developed to model response behaviour of Ground penetrating radar (GPR). The effects of electrical properties such as dielectric constant, conductivity of the media have been evaluated. A Gaussian shaped pulse is used as source which propagates through the 1D array grid, and the pulse interactions at different media interfaces have been investigated. The objective of this paper is to assess the modelling criteria and success rate of detecting buried object using the framework. A real life application of GPR to detect a buried steel bar in one meter thick concrete block has been carried out, and the results present successful detection of the steel bar along with measured depth of the concrete cover. The developed framework could be implemented to model multi-layer dielectric blocks with detection capability of various buried objects.