A review of ground-penetrating radar studies related to peatland stratigraphy with a case study on the determination of peat thickness in a northern boreal fen in Quebec, Canada

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 767-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Proulx-McInnis ◽  
André St-Hilaire ◽  
Alain N. Rousseau ◽  
Sylvain Jutras

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-intrusive geophysical observation method based on propagation and reflection of high-frequency electromagnetic waves in the shallow subsurface. The vertical cross-sectional images obtained allow the identification of thickness and lithologic horizons of different media, without destruction. Over the last decade, several studies have demonstrated the potential of GPR. This paper presents a review of recent GPR applications to peatlands, particularly to determine peat stratigraphy. An example study of acquisition and comparison of peatland soil thickness of a fen-dominated watershed located in the James Bay region of Quebec, using (1) a meter stick linked to a GPS RTK and (2) a GSSI GPR, is given. A coefficient of determination ( r2) of 56% was obtained between the ordinary krigings performed on data gathered using both techniques. Disparities occurred mainly in the vicinity of ponds which can be explained by the attenuation of GPR signal in open water. Despite these difficulties – the higher time required for analysis and the error margin – it seems more appropriate to use a GPR, instead of a graduated rod linked to a GPS, to measure the peat depths on a site like the one presented in this study. Manual measurements, which are user-dependent in the context of variable mineral substrate densities and with the presence of obstacles in the substrate, may be more subjective.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolf-Stefan Benedix ◽  
Dirk Plettemeier ◽  
Christoph Statz ◽  
Yun Lu ◽  
Ronny Hahnel ◽  
...  

<p>The WISDOM ground-penetrating radar aboard the 2022 ESA-Roscosmos Rosalind-Franklin ExoMars Rover will probe the shallow subsurface of Oxia Planum using electromagnetic waves. A dual-polarized broadband antenna assembly transmits the WISDOM signal into the Martian subsurface and receives the return signal. This antenna assembly has been extensively tested and characterized w.r.t. the most significant antenna parameters (gain, pattern, matching). However, during the design phase, these parameters were simulated or measured without the environment, i.e., in the absence of other objects like brackets, rover vehicle, or soil. Some measurements of the rover's influence on the WISDOM data were performed during the instrument's integration.</p><p>It was shown that the rover structure and close surroundings in the near-field region of the WISDOM antenna assembly have a significant impact on the WISDOM signal and sounding performance. Hence, it is essential to include the simulations' environment, especially with varying surface and underground.</p><p>With this contribution, we outline the influences of rover and ground on the antenna's pattern and particularly on the footprint. We employ a 3D field solver with a complete system model above different soil types, i.e., subsurface materials with various combinations of permittivity and conductivity.</p>


Author(s):  
M. S. Sudakova ◽  
M. L. Vladov ◽  
M. R. Sadurtdinov

Within the ground penetrating radar bandwidth the medium is considered to be an ideal dielectric, which is not always true. Electromagnetic waves reflection coefficient conductivity dependence showed a significant role of the difference in conductivity in reflection strength. It was confirmed by physical modeling. Conductivity of geological media should be taken into account when solving direct and inverse problems, survey design planning, etc. Ground penetrating radar can be used to solve the problem of mapping of halocline or determine water contamination.


2003 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dilce F. Rossetti

The geological characterization of shallow subsurface Neogene deposits in northeastern Pará State using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) revealed normal and reverse faults, as well as folds, not yet well documented by field studies. The faults are identified mostly by steeply-dipping reflections that sharply cut the nearby reflections causing bed offsets, drags and rollovers. The folds are recognized by reflections that are highly undulating, configuring broad concave and convex-up features that are up to 50 m wide and 80 to 90 ns deep. These deformation structures are mostly developed within deposits of Miocene age, though some of the faults might continue into younger deposits as well. Although the studied GPR sections show several diffractions caused by trees, differential degrees of moisture, and underground artifacts, the structures recorded here can not be explained by any of these ''noises''. The detailed analysis of the GPR sections reveals that they are attributed to bed distortion caused by brittle deformation and folding. The record of faults and folds are not widespread in the Neogene deposits of the Bragantina area. These GPR data are in agreement with structural models, which have proposed a complex evolution including strike-slip motion for this area from the Miocene to present.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 73-77
Author(s):  
Aye Mint Mohamed Mostapha ◽  
Gamil Alsharahi ◽  
Abdellah Driouach

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a very effective tool for detecting and identifying objects below the ground surface.  based on  the propagation and reflection of high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The GPR reflection can be affected by many things like the type of objects orientation, their shapes ..ect. The purpose of this paper is to  study by simulation the effect of objects orientation in two different mediums (dry and wet sand) on the GPR signal reflection using Reflexw software which is based on a numerical method known as finite difference in time domain (FDTD).  The simulations that have been realized included a conductor  and dielectric objects. The results obtained have led us to find that the propagation path, the reflection strength and the signal form change with the change of object orientation and nature. To confirm the validity of the results, we compared them with experimental results previously published by researchers under the same conditions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jeong-Jun Park ◽  
Yoonseok Chung ◽  
Gigwon Hong

This study described the results of experiments comparing the cavity scales obtained from the GPR exploration with the direct excavation of the identified cavity scales. The first experiment was carried out on the actual roadway, and the additional experiment was carried out on the mock-up site to prevent the cavity collapse under the ground. It was confirmed that the soil depth of the predicted cavity and the identified cavity was similar, but the predicted cavity scales by GPR exploration overestimated the longitudinal and cross-sectional widths compared with the identified cavity scales. Based on the correlation between the cavity scales predicted by GPR exploration and the cavity scales identified in the mock-up test, an empirical formula for estimating the cavity scales was proposed.


Geophysics ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1758-1773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Don W. Vasco ◽  
John E. Peterson ◽  
Ki Ha Lee

A ray series solution for Maxwell's equations provides an efficient numerical technique for calculating wavefronts and raypaths associated with electromagnetic waves in anisotropic media. Using this methodology and assuming weak anisotropy, we show that a perturbation of the anisotropic structure may be related linearly to a variation in the traveltime of an electromagnetic wave. Thus, it is possible to infer lateral variations in the dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability matrices. The perturbation approach is used to analyze a series of crosswell ground‐penetrating radar surveys conducted at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. Several important geological features are imaged, including a rubble zone at the interface between two basalt flows. Linear low‐velocity anomalies are imaged clearly and are continuous across well pairs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 3487
Author(s):  
Sergey I. Ivashov ◽  
Lorenzo Capineri ◽  
Timothy D. Bechtel ◽  
Vladimir V. Razevig ◽  
Masaharu Inagaki ◽  
...  

Holographic subsurface radar (HSR) is not currently in widespread usage. This is due to a historical perspective in the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) community that the high attenuation of electromagnetic waves in most media of interest and the inability to apply time-varying gain to the continuous-wave (CW) HSR signal preclude sufficient effective penetration depth. While it is true that the fundamental physics of HSR, with its use of a CW signal, does not allow amplification of later (i.e., deeper) arrivals in lossy media (as is possible with impulse subsurface radar (ISR)), HSR has distinct advantages. The most important of these is the ability to do shallow subsurface imaging with a resolution that is not possible with ISR. In addition, the design of an HSR system is simpler than for ISR due to the relatively low-tech transmitting and receiving antennae. This paper provides a review of the main principles of HSR through an optical analogy and describes possible algorithms for radar hologram reconstruction. We also present a review of the history of development of systems and applications of the RASCAN type, which is possibly the only commercially available holographic subsurface radar. Among the subsurface imaging and remote sensing applications considered are humanitarian demining, construction inspection, nondestructive testing of dielectric aerospace materials, surveys of historic architecture and artworks, paleontology, and security screening. Each application is illustrated with relevant data acquired in laboratory and/or field experiments.


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