Radar Profiling of Buried Reflectors and the Groundwater Table

Abstract

Investigations of ground radar performance over thawed and seasonally frozen silts, and sands and gravels containing artificial and natural reflectors were carried out in Alaska. The radar emitted 5-10 ns pulses, the center frequency of which was approximately 150 MHz. The artificial reflectors were metal sheets and discs and the natural reflectors were the groundwater table and interfaces between frozen and thawed material. The water table was profiled at three sites where the subsurface material was coarse-grained alluvium. Dielectric constants of 16 to 18 were measured for the thawed silts, 6 to 7 for the frozen silts and 3 to 9 for the sands and gravels. Signal penetration in the thawed high moisture content silts may be achieved only by use of a lower frequency radar, whereas in the sands and gravels greater depths may be detected with more sophisticated signal processing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA130225

Entities

People

  • A. J. Delaney
  • P. V. Sellmann
  • S. A. Arcone

Organizations

  • Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cold Regions
  • Dielectric Permittivity
  • Dielectric Properties
  • Diffraction
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Geography
  • Groundwater
  • Moisture
  • Moisture Content
  • New Hampshire
  • Radar
  • Radar Equipment
  • Radar Signals
  • Reflectors
  • United States
  • Water Supplies

Readers

  • Electromagnetic Wave Scattering and Antenna Radiation Engineering
  • Geotechnical Engineering.