Modeling of GPR Using gprMax Simulation

A simulation software tool known as gprMax is used for modeling of Ground penetrating radar-Gpr to detect the target buried underground by choosing the optimal antenna frequency. gprMax is an open-source software which uses finite difference time domain method that simulates electromagnetic wave propagation. The simulations are carried out for different dielectric medium. The output from the gprMax is represented using A-Scan and B-scan signal. Couple of experiments are performed by varying the objects size and depth for different dielectric value and antenna frequency. From the literature it is proved that, depth of penetration should be less for higher frequency antenna and better resolution. For low frequency antenna, the depth of penetration is more but less resolution. It’s a challenging task to choose an optimal antenna frequency to detect the target which is buried underground.In this work 800MHz,1GHz and 1.5GHz center frequency antennas are used to simulate GPR with a hertzian dipole source fed with ricker waveform. By using gprMax it is reliable tool to model real environment of GPR and to detect the location of the target accurately. The detection of the object radius and depth are clearly visible and effective for dry sand with an antenna frequency of 1.5GHz.