Ground Penetrating Radar Books

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It is a non-intrusive method of surveying the sub-surface to investigate underground utilities such as concrete, asphalt, metals, pipes, cables or masonry. This nondestructive method uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. GPR can have applications in a variety of media, including rock, soil, ice, fresh water, pavements and structures. In the right conditions, practitioners can use GPR to detect subsurface objects, changes in material properties, and voids and cracks.

Ground-penetrating radar provides images of the subsurface by using the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) in the microwave range between 10 MHz and 2.6 GHz. These signals are transmitted through the ground and reflect off of subsurface structures based on their electrical permittivity. A receiving antenna records variations in the return signals, which the GPR device uses to generate images that generally indicate changes in electrical properties.

GPR requires two main pieces of equipment – a transmitter and a receiving antenna. The transmitter sends electromagnetic energy into the soil and other material. Ground Penetrating Radar works by emitting a pulse into the ground and recording the echoes that result from subsurface objects. GPR imaging devices also detect variation in the composition of the ground material.

If the electromagnetic impulse hits an object, the density of the object reflects, refracts, and scatters the signal. The receiver detects the returning signals and records variations within them. The system has software that translates these signals into images of the objects in the subsurface. This is how it is used to map structures and utilities buried in the ground or in man-made structures.