Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems
Air-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems are widely used for subsurface imaging in demining, geological surveys, and infrastructure assessment applications. However, strong surface reflections can introduce interference, leading to receiver saturation and reducing the clarity of subsurface...
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MDPI AG
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1668 |
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| author | Primož Smogavec Dušan Gleich |
| author_facet | Primož Smogavec Dušan Gleich |
| author_sort | Primož Smogavec |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Air-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems are widely used for subsurface imaging in demining, geological surveys, and infrastructure assessment applications. However, strong surface reflections can introduce interference, leading to receiver saturation and reducing the clarity of subsurface features. This paper presents a novel surface reflection suppression algorithm for stepped-frequency continuous wave (SFCW) GPR systems. The proposed method estimates the surface reflection component and applies phase-compensated subtraction at the receiver site, effectively suppressing background reflections. A modular SFCW radar system was developed and tested in a laboratory setup simulating a low-altitude airborne deployment to validate the proposed approach. B-scan and time-domain analyses demonstrate significant suppression of surface reflections, improving the visibility of subsurface targets. Unlike previous static echo cancellation methods, the proposed method performs on-board pre-downconversion removal of surface clutter that compensates for varying ground distance, which is a unique contribution of this work. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a7aa87930e4e45eea70d0256d6a5409f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj-art-a7aa87930e4e45eea70d0256d6a5409f2025-08-20T02:33:55ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-05-011710166810.3390/rs17101668Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR SystemsPrimož Smogavec0Dušan Gleich1Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Korška cesta 46, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaFaculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Maribor, Korška cesta 46, 2000 Maribor, SloveniaAir-coupled ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems are widely used for subsurface imaging in demining, geological surveys, and infrastructure assessment applications. However, strong surface reflections can introduce interference, leading to receiver saturation and reducing the clarity of subsurface features. This paper presents a novel surface reflection suppression algorithm for stepped-frequency continuous wave (SFCW) GPR systems. The proposed method estimates the surface reflection component and applies phase-compensated subtraction at the receiver site, effectively suppressing background reflections. A modular SFCW radar system was developed and tested in a laboratory setup simulating a low-altitude airborne deployment to validate the proposed approach. B-scan and time-domain analyses demonstrate significant suppression of surface reflections, improving the visibility of subsurface targets. Unlike previous static echo cancellation methods, the proposed method performs on-board pre-downconversion removal of surface clutter that compensates for varying ground distance, which is a unique contribution of this work.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1668GPRsurface reflection suppressionSFCWsurface echoecho cancellationreceiver saturation |
| spellingShingle | Primož Smogavec Dušan Gleich Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems Remote Sensing GPR surface reflection suppression SFCW surface echo echo cancellation receiver saturation |
| title | Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems |
| title_full | Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems |
| title_fullStr | Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems |
| title_short | Surface Reflection Suppression Method for Air-Coupled SFCW GPR Systems |
| title_sort | surface reflection suppression method for air coupled sfcw gpr systems |
| topic | GPR surface reflection suppression SFCW surface echo echo cancellation receiver saturation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/10/1668 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT primozsmogavec surfacereflectionsuppressionmethodforaircoupledsfcwgprsystems AT dusangleich surfacereflectionsuppressionmethodforaircoupledsfcwgprsystems |