FDTD analysis of ground-penetrating radar antennas with shields and absorbers

Abstract

One of the most critical hardware components of a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is the antenna system. Important parameters of antennas, such as antenna bandwidth, radiation waveform and cross coupling determine the GPR system performance. The modified TEM horn antenna with distributed resistor load is presented in this paper, and the radiation properties of the antenna with the shields and absorbers are studied through the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme. Simulations show that the direct signal coupled from the transmitter is decreased by means of the shields and absorbers. Therefore, using the antenna in the GPR system can improve the signal-to-clutter ratio and the dynamic range of the system.

Keywords

ground-penetrating radar (GPR), antenna, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD), generalized perfectly matched layer (GPML)