Ground-penetrating Radar

Abstract

Ground-penetrating radar is a near-surface geophysical method that reflects radar waves from buried interfaces in the ground and produces two and three-dimensional images of buried geological and anthropogenic units. When many thousands or hundreds of thousands of reflections are displayed in two-dimensional vertical slices, profiles of these units can be made and interpreted much like viewing layers in the wall of a trench. When many hundreds of profiles are collected within a grid of closely spaced two-dimensional slices, horizontal maps of the reflective units as defined by the amplitude of the waves produced can be constructed. Those amplitude maps can show geological changes over broad areas such as where certain soils or strata are found, and also the human-produced features on and within those units. An interpretation of what is producing amplitude-defined features visible in map form is possible by analyzing the individual two-dimensional reflection profiles and that interpretation can be used to understand broad areas of study.