Feasibility study of multi-frequency Ground Penetrating Radar for rotary UAV platforms

In this paper the feasibility of a multi-frequency and adaptive mobile Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for detection of Landmines and IEDs is presented and analysed. The design and analysis of the GPR sensors considers the principle factors affecting the system such as target size and shape, geographical conditions, modes of operation and compactness of RF and antennas units, then uses modelling approaches to examine these further. The detection of landmines and IEDs buried under layers of sand or foliage is an on-going problem [5]. Since the response from different environmental conditions varies significantly, it imposes a huge challenge to the design of antennas in GPR system [3]. This work aims to study the scope of multi-frequency wave propagation in GPR. The results are then used to design a novel, multi band reconfigurable antenna that is able to switch between different frequencies. The operating frequencies of the antenna are chosen to be within 0.5-5 GHz with a bandwidth of 350 MHz at 5GHz. Several types of GPR models were simulated in a commercial Finite Integral Method based software and the simulated results indicate that the chosen lower and upper operating frequencies provide a good complementation between signal penetration, range resolution, and attenuation. An initial design of a new reconfigurable patch antenna is also investigated. Switching between chosen frequencies can be realised by using RF MEMS switches. Different combinations of the switches allow the design to alter the length and shape of the radiating element.