The effect of coupling on the determination of time zero for radar antennae

The a priori knowledge of time zero of radar antennae is essential for an accurate GPR data processing. Indeed, an overevaluation of this parameter can induce inaccuracies in the estimation of the physical and geometrical characteristics of auscultated media from delay picking. This paper proposes experimental methodologies to obtain a stable estimation of Time Zero position through a parametric study based on picking of time signals. The experimental processing results are used to evaluate the effect of antennae coupling and the effect of variations in dielectric parameters on the calculation accuracy of the Time Zero position for various configurations of antennae.