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Review of Application Areas of GPR

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Engineering Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 41428

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Federico Lombardi

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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: ground penetrating radar; applied geophysics; geophysical data processing; geophysical surveys; GPR imaging
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Dr. Frank Podd

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Guest Editor

Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
Interests: ground penetrating radar; GPR electronics; near-field data inversion
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Dr. Mercedes Solla

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Guest Editor

GeoTECH Research Group, CINTECX, Universidade de Vigo, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Interests: ground penetrating radar; signal processing; numerical modeling; civil and environmental engineering; cultural heritage; archaeology; geographic information systems (GIS)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ground Penetrating Radar started as a radio echo sounding technology during the second half of the last century, but it is now a well-established and widely adopted technology for producing high-resolution images of the subsurface. The application domain spans many orders of magnitude in size, from glaciology to detecting cracks in pavement. Such continuous expansion in accuracy, and in application areas, is a consequence of the increase in computational resources, novel hardware architecture, and algorithm improvements to facilitate interpretation.

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a compilation containing detailed reviews on the use of GPR. The articles can focus on GPR technology developments. Alternatively, the articles can focus on developments in particular application areas (such as cultural heritage, civil engineering, or emerging fields) and the technologies and methods used therein.

Examples for overviews and advances concentrating solely on the technology are:

Traditional and new advances in novel antenna design and antenna feeds.
Conventional and recent advances in non-standard antenna configurations, such as multi-offset, multi-polarisation and multi-frequency.
Data processing methods and the latest techniques for automated object detection, identification and recognition.

Examples of reviews rooted in an application area, but with discussions of how the techniques, operational procedures, and technologies have advanced are:

Archaeology and cultural heritage that include the latest advances in GPR data acquisition, as well as aerial GPR.
Environmental investigations.
Security and forensics.
Underground asset detection and transport infrastructure assessment.
Emerging applications, for example:
- precision farming and agriculture.
- underground imaging for localisation.
- planetary geophysics.

Dr. Federico Lombardi
Dr. Frank Podd
Dr. Mercedes Solla
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)
Non-destructive evaluation
Radar systems
Signal processing and imaging
Near surface geophysics

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 190 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Editorial for the Special Issue “Review of Application Areas of GPR”

by Federico Lombardi, Frank Podd and Mercedes Solla

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(17), 4233; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs15174233 - 29 Aug 2023

Viewed by 564

Abstract

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) started as a radio echo sounding technology during the second half of the last century, but it is now a well-established and widely adopted technology for producing high-resolution images of subsurface [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Review of Application Areas of GPR)

Research

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23 pages, 17735 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Using InSAR and GPR Techniques to Detect Subsidence: Application to the Coastal Area of “A Xunqueira” (NW Spain)

by Alex Alonso-Díaz, Josué Casado-Rabasco, Mercedes Solla and Susana Lagüela

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(15), 3729; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs15153729 - 26 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1162

Abstract

Climate change represents an important cause of subsidence, especially in coastal cities affected by changes in surface water level and water table. This paper presents a complementary study of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for the early detection of subsidence and sinkhole phenomena. The methodology was applied to a coastal urban area in Galicia, northwest Spain (humid region), showing apparent signs of subsidence and building settlement during the last two years. Two different InSAR methods are compared for the period from June 2021 to March 2022: PSI (Persistent Scatterer Interferometry) and SBAS (Small Baseline Subsets), and the average deformation velocities obtained resulted in −3.0 mm/yr and −4.1 mm/yr, respectively. Additional GPR data were collected in January 2022 to validate the InSAR results, which detected subsidence in agreement with the persistent scatters obtained from the PSI method. This is crucial information to plan preventive maintenance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Review of Application Areas of GPR)

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16 pages, 50388 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ground-Penetrating Radar Full-Wave Inversion for Soil Moisture Mapping in Trench-Hill Potato Fields for Precise Irrigation

by Kaijun Wu, Henri Desesquelles, Rodolphe Cockenpot, Léon Guyard, Victor Cuisiniez and Sébastien Lambot

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 6046; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14236046 - 29 Nov 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2280

Abstract

In this paper, we analysed the effect of trench-hill soil surface on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) full-wave inversion for soil moisture measurement. We conducted numerical experiments by modelling the trench-hill surface using finite-difference time–domain (FDTD) simulations. The FDTD simulations were carried out with the open-source software gprMax, using different centre frequencies, namely, 150 MHz, 250 MHz and 450 MHz. The gprMax source/receiver for each centre frequency was calibrated, respectively, to transform the FDTD radar signal to normalized Green’s functions for wave propagation in multilayered media. The radar signals and inversion results of the three different frequency ranges are compared. The FDTD Green’s functions of the trench-hill surface with a flat surface are also compared. The results show that the trench-hill surface only slightly affects the inversion when frequency is lower than 190 MHz, which agrees with Rayleigh’s criterion. Field measurements were performed as well, using a prototype radar mounted on an irrigation robot. The low-frequency antenna was calibrated over a large water plane. The optimal operating frequency range was set to 130–190 MHz. TDR measurements were performed as well for comparison. The results demonstrated promising perspectives for automated and real-time determination of the root–zone soil moisture in potato fields, and thereby for precise and automatic irrigation. Full article

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18 pages, 9743 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nondestructive Evaluation of Localized Rebar Corrosion in Concrete Using Vibro-Radar Based on Pulse Doppler Imaging

by Takashi Miwa and Yuri Nakazawa

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(18), 4645; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14184645 - 16 Sep 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1552

Abstract

Early nondestructive inspection of rebar corrosion in reinforced concrete structures is important, but a practical, accurate, high-speed, and high-resolution method has not yet been proposed. We have proposed a vibro-Doppler radar (VDR) method for quantitative evaluation of rebar corrosion based on vibration displacement of a rebar sinusoidally vibrated by an excitation coil. However, this method is not practical because it is not quick enough, requiring two minutes for a measurement at one point. In this paper, a VDR system based on a pulse radar, which is 100 times faster than the conventional system, was developed, and its effectiveness was verified using a concrete specimen. As a result, it was found that a 30-cm section could be scanned in about 2 min. Furthermore, the vibration displacements spatially distributed on the rebar were monitored while the rebar was corroded by electrolytic corrosion tests. As a result, it was found that the vibration displacement increased locally with a width of a few centimeters, and their positions corresponded to the positions of sectional loss of rebar due to corrosion, indicating that this method can be used for nondestructive evaluation of localized rebar corrosion. Full article

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14 pages, 774 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Review of Passive and Active Ultra-Wideband Baluns for Use in Ground Penetrating Radar

by Wouter van Verre, Frank J. W. Podd, Xianyang Gao, David J. Daniels and Anthony J. Peyton

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(10), 1899; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13101899 - 13 May 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3044

Abstract

Microwave ultra-wideband technology has been widely adopted in instrumentation and measurement systems, including ground-penetrating radar (GPR) sensors. Baluns are essential components in these systems to feed balanced antennas from unbalanced feed cables. Baluns are typically introduced to avoid issues with return signals, asymmetrical radiation patterns and radiation from cables. In GPR systems, these issues can cause poor sensitivity due to a reduction in radiated power, blind spots due to changes in the radiation pattern and additional clutter from common mode radiation. The different balun technologies currently available exhibit a wide variation in performance characteristics such as insertion loss, reflection coefficient and phase balance, as well as physical properties such as size and manufacturability. In this study, the performance of two magnetic transformer baluns, two tapered microstrip baluns and an active balun based on high-speed amplifiers were investigated, all up to frequencies of 6 GHz. A radio frequency current probe was used to measure the common mode currents on the feed cables that occur with poor performing baluns. It was found that commercially available magnetic transformer baluns have the best phase linearity, while also having the highest insertion losses. The active balun design has the best reflection coefficient at low frequencies, while, at high frequencies, its performance is similar to the other baluns tested. It was found that the active balun had the lowest common mode current on the feed cables. Full article

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Review

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34 pages, 2879 KiB

Open AccessReview

Assessing the Perspectives of Ground Penetrating Radar for Precision Farming

by Federico Lombardi, Bianca Ortuani, Arianna Facchi and Maurizio Lualdi

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 6066; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14236066 - 30 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3436

Abstract

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlighted the importance of adopting sustainable agricultural practices to mitigate the threat posed by climate change to food systems around the world, to provide wise water management and to restore degraded lands. At the same time, it suggested the benefits and advantages brought by the use of near-surface geophysical measurements to assist precision farming, in particular providing information on soil variability at both vertical and horizontal scales. Among such survey methodologies, Ground Penetrating Radar has demonstrated its effectiveness in soil characterisation as a consequence of its sensitivity to variations in soil electrical properties and of its additional capability of investigating subsurface stratification. The aim of this contribution is to provide a comprehensive review of the current use of the GPR technique within the domain of precision irrigation, and specifically of its capacity to provide detailed information on the within-field spatial variability of the textural, structural and hydrological soil properties, which are needed to optimize irrigation management, adopting a variable-rate approach to preserve water resources while maintaining or improving crop yields and their quality. For each soil property, the review analyses the commonly adopted operational and data processing approaches, highlighting advantages and limitations. Full article

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37 pages, 6401 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of Ground Penetrating Radar Applications for Water Dynamics Studies in Unsaturated Zone

by Minghe Zhang, Xuan Feng, Maksim Bano, Huiting Xing, Taihan Wang, Wenjing Liang, Haoqiu Zhou, Zejun Dong, Yafei An and Yinghao Zhang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 5993; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14235993 - 26 Nov 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3273

Abstract

For water dynamics investigation in unsaturated (vadose) zones, ground penetrating radar is a popular hydro-geophysical method because it is non-invasive for soil, has high resolution and the results have a direct link with water content. Soil water content and soil hydraulic properties are two key factors for describing the water dynamics in vadose zones. There has been tremendous progress in soil water content and soil hydraulic properties estimation with ground penetrating radar. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the application of ground penetrating radar for soil water dynamics studies. This paper first summarizes various methods for the determination of soil water content. including traditional methods in the surveys of surface ground penetrating radar, borehole ground penetrating radar, and off-ground ground penetrating radar, as well as relatively new methods, such as full waveform inversion, the average envelope amplitude method, and the frequency shift method. This paper further provides a review for estimating soil hydraulic properties with GPR according to the types of ground penetrating radar data. We hope that this review can provide a reference for the application of ground penetrating radar in soil water dynamics studies in the future. Full article

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23 pages, 2308 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of GPR Activities in Civil Infrastructures: Data Analysis and Applications

by Feifei Hou, Xiyue Rui, Xinyu Fan and Hang Zhang

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(23), 5972; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14235972 - 25 Nov 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2615

Abstract

Ground penetration radar (GPR) technology has received in-depth analysis and rapid development in the field of civil engineering. GPR data analysis is one of the basic and challenging problems in this field. This research aims to conduct a comprehensive survey of the progress from 2015 to the present in GPR scanning tasks. More than 130 major publications are cited in this research covering different aspects of the research, including advanced data processing methods and a wide variety of applications. First, it briefly introduces the data collection of the GPR system and discusses the signal complexity in simulated/real scenes. Then, it reviews the main signal processing techniques used to interpret the GPR data. Subsequently, the latest GPR surveys are considered and divided according to four application domains, namely bridges, road pavements, underground utilities, and urban subsurface risks. Finally, the survey discusses the open challenges and directions for future research. Full article

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40 pages, 8727 KiB

Open AccessReview

Combined Use of GPR and Other NDTs for Road Pavement Assessment: An Overview

by Ahmed Elseicy, Alex Alonso-Díaz, Mercedes Solla, Mezgeen Rasol and Sonia Santos-Assunçao

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(17), 4336; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14174336 - 01 Sep 2022

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4442

Abstract

Roads are the main transportation system in any country and, therefore, must be maintained in good physical condition to provide a safe and seamless flow to transport people and goods. However, road pavements are subjected to various defects because of construction errors, aging, environmental conditions, changing traffic load, and poor maintenance. Regular inspections are therefore recommended to ensure serviceability and minimize maintenance costs. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-destructive testing (NDT) technique widely used to inspect the subsurface condition of road pavements. Furthermore, the integral use of NDTs has received more attention in recent years since it provides a more comprehensive and reliable assessment of the road network. Accordingly, GPR has been integrated with complementary NDTs to extend its capabilities and to detect potential pavement surface and subsurface distresses and features. In this paper, the non-destructive methods commonly combined with GPR to monitor both flexible and rigid pavements are briefly described. In addition, published work combining GPR with other NDT methods is reviewed, emphasizing the main findings and limitations of the most practical combination methods. Further, challenges, trends, and future perspectives of the reviewed combination works are highlighted, including the use of intelligent data analysis. Full article

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30 pages, 7354 KiB

Open AccessReview

From Its Core to the Niche: Insights from GPR Applications

by Federico Lombardi, Frank Podd and Mercedes Solla

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(13), 3033; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14133033 - 24 Jun 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3973

Abstract

Thanks to its non-destructive, high-resolution imaging possibilities and its sensitivity to both conductive and dielectric subsurface structures, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) has become a widely recognized near-surface geophysical tool, routinely adopted in a wide variety of disciplines. Since its first development almost 100 years ago, the domain in which the methodology has been successfully deployed has significantly expanded from ice sounding and environmental studies to precision agriculture and infrastructure monitoring. While such expansion has been clearly supported by the evolution of technology and electronics, the operating principles have always secured GPR a predominant position among alternative inspection approaches. The aim of this contribution is to provide a large-scale survey of the current areas where GPR has emerged as a valuable prospection methodology, highlighting the reasons for such prominence and, at the same time, to suggest where and how it could be enhanced even more. Full article

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21 pages, 3702 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in the GPR Detection of Grouting Defects behind Shield Tunnel Segments

by Ming Peng, Dengyi Wang, Liu Liu, Zhenming Shi, Jian Shen and Fuan Ma

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(22), 4596; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13224596 - 16 Nov 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3741

Abstract

Injecting grout into the gaps between tunnel shield segments and surrounding rocks can reduce ground subsidence and prevent ground water penetration. However, insufficient grouting and grouting defects may cause serious geological disasters. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is widely used as a nondestructive testing (NDT) method to evaluate grouting quality and determine the existence of defects. This paper provides an overview of GPR applications for grouting defect detection behind tunnel shield segments. State-of-the-art methodologies, field cases, experimental tests and signal processing methods are discussed. The reported field cases and model test results show that GPR can detect grouting defects behind shield tunnel segments by identifying reflected waves. However, some subsequent problems still exist, including the interference of steel bars and small differences in the dielectric constants among media. Recent studies have focused on enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio and imaging methods. Advanced GPR signal processing methods, including full waveform inversion and machine learning methods, are promising for detecting imaging defects. Additionally, we conduct a preliminary experiment to investigate environmental noise, antenna configuration and coupling condition influences. Some promising topics, including multichannel configuration, rapid evaluation methods, elastic wave method scanning equipment for evaluating grout quality and comprehensive NDT methods, are recommended for future studies. Full article

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Other

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13 pages, 5123 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

GPR Application on Geothermal Studies: The Case Study of the Thermal Baths of San Xusto (Pontevedra, Spain)

by Mercedes Solla, Cristina Sáez Blázquez, Ignacio Martín Nieto, Juan Luis Rodríguez and Miguel Ángel Maté-González

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(11), 2667; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs14112667 - 02 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1608

Abstract

Geophysical studies are frequently used on the geothermal field to define and characterize deep structures. However, shallow investigations are also needed for understanding the origin and local potential structures of a promising geothermal site. In this research, it is intended to present a review of the possibilities of the application of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) on the study of geothermal resources and how this geophysical technique can contribute to improving the energy use of these thermal resources. For this, the specific case of application to the investigation of the thermal baths of San Xusto (Pontevedra, Spain) is included in this work, whose interest for the region makes it necessary to perform an in-depth analysis of the original thermal structure. A GPR survey with frequency antennas of 200 and 500 MHz was conducted. Additionally, chemical analyses were performed to characterize the thermal water in the San Xusto site. As a result, a hot spring was detected by identifying reverberation phenomena in GPR imaging due to the presence of metal compounds and silica. Locating the origin of the thermal springs could allow for a more efficient use of the thermal resources as well as the hydrothermal possibilities of the area. Full article

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12 pages, 4422 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Airborne Ground Penetrating Radar, Field Test

by Dmitry Edemsky, Alexei Popov, Igor Prokopovich and Vladimir Garbatsevich

Remote Sens. 2021, 13(4), 667; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rs13040667 - 12 Feb 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7177

Abstract

Deployment of a ground penetrating radar (GPR) on a flying machine allows one to substantially extend the application area of this geophysical method and to simplify carrying out large surveys of dangerous and hard-to-reach terrain, where usual ground-based methods are hardly applied. There is a necessity to promote investigations in this direction by modifying hardware characteristics and developing specific proceeding algorithms. For this purpose, we upgraded commercial ground-based subsurface sounding hardware and performed corresponding computer simulation and real experiments. Finally, the first experimental flights were done with the constructed GPR prototype mounted on a helicopter. Using our experience in the development of ground-based GPR and the results of numerical simulations, an appropriate configuration of antennas and their placing on the flying machine were chosen. Computer modeling allowed us to select an optimal resistive loading of transmitter and receiver dipoles; calculate radiation patterns on fixed frequencies; analyze the efficiency of different conductor diameters in antenna circuit; calculate cross-coupling of transmitting and receiving antennas with the helicopter. Preliminary laboratory experiments to check the efficiency of the designed system were performed on an urban building site, using a tower crane with the horizontal jib to operate the measuring system in the air above the ground area to be sounded. Both signals from the surface and subsurface objects were recorded. To interpret the results, numerical modeling was carried out. A two-dimensional model of our experiment was simulated, it matches well the experimental data. Laboratory experiments provided an opportunity to estimate the level of spurious reflections from the external objects, which helps to recognize weak signals from subsurface objects in GPR surveys under live conditions. Full article

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