Special GPR antenna developments for landmine and UXO surveys

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a promising technique for detecting and identifying buried landmines and UXOs. The antenna plays a critical role in determining the performance for tasks and requires to have a broad bandwidth, minimal ground dependency, fast or no antenna ring-down, desirable polarization and pattern characteristics. Three unique UWB dual-polarization GPR antenna designs are discussed. A dielectric rod antenna, covering from 1 GHz to 6 GHz, is suitable for shallow (less than 12 inches) targets, such as landmine detection/identification. The other two antennas, covering frequencies from 20 MHz to 800 MHz, are suitable for general GPR applications, such as the detections of pipes, utility lines, UXOs, AT mines, etc.