Numerical analysis of the detection performance of ground coupled radars for different antenna systems and signal features

The detection capabilities of ground penetrating radar (GPR) for shallow subsurface investigations is primarily related to the efficient design of the antennas and to the suitable choice of the signal waveforms. An exploration of such aspects is the subject of the present work, with specific interest to ground-coupled monostatic and bistatic configurations. In order to address in a consistent way the issues related to the influence of the type of antennas and of the transmitted signal traces, extensive analyses have been performed numerically, based on ad-hoc implementation of a full-wave electromagnetic CAD tool. The relevant effects on the reconstruction of radar sections are evaluated and discussed in a number of test cases for the detection of buried scatterers in scenarios of practical interest.