Shallow depth subsurface imaging with microwave holography

Abstract

In this paper, microwave holography is considered as a tool to obtain high resolution images of shallowly buried objects. Signal acquisition is performed at multiple frequencies on a grid using a two-dimensional mechanical scanner moving a single transceiver over an area of interest in close proximity to the surface. The described FFT-based reconstruction technique is used to obtain a stack of plan view images each using only one selected frequency from the operating waveband of the radar. The extent of a synthetically-formed aperture and the signal wavelength define the plan view resolution, which at sounding frequencies near 7 GHz amounts to 2 cm. The system has a short depth of focus which allows easy selection of proper focusing plane. The small distance from the buried objects to the antenna does not prevent recording of clean images due to multiple reflections (as happens with impulse radars). The description of the system hardware and signal processing technique is illustrated using experiments conducted in dry sand. The microwave images of inert anti-personnel mines are demonstrated as examples. The images allow target discrimination based on the same visually-discernible small features that a human observer would employ. The demonstrated technology shows promise for modification to meet the specific practical needs required for humanitarian demining or in multi-sensor survey systems.