Characterization of shallow underground targets using wideband microwave reflectometry

In this paper, the use of a combined signal processing technique of target discrimination for the step-frequency ground penetrating radar is investigated. To construct the radar range profile from the backscattered signal, a real part of the inverse discrete Fourier transform is multiplied by the pseudospectrum obtained from the same data via eigenvector method. The signatures of small underground objects can be subdivided in four categories designated conditionally as front wall; back wall; inclusion of high density; inclusion of low density. Experimental studies have shown that the technique is valid for both strong and weak scatterers. The approach can be extended to the discrimination of complex targets such as landmines by creating a set of templates.