SBIR PHASE I: Electronic Beam Steering for Ground Probing Radar

9561190 Thompson这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将试图通过为现有的探地雷达系统提供波束引导能力来大幅改进探地雷达。探地雷达是一种用于探测地下结构和目标的成熟技术。现有的探地雷达系统利用沿监视路径拖动发射机并收集反射时间数据以检测地下电介质界面的方法(称为线性剖面法)。本项目将开发的系统将顺序触发发射机天线单元的线性阵列，由单元传输的相干叠加形成单一成像波束，以提供波束控制，以实现更宽的发射机覆盖范围、更高的高频(100至500 MHz)深度穿透和更高的探测分辨率。预计这些改进还将允许从移动平台进行地面探测，这将极大地降低收集区域数据的成本。由于天线成本较低(由TWS工程师设计)，该系统可以永久安装到需要定期监测的区域，以检测地球表面(如地下矿山)的潜在危险移动，成本大大降低。在拟议项目的头3个月期间，每项任务的初步发展将由主要和共同主要调查员同时进行。然后将对每项任务的结果进行评估，以便在项目的后半部分开发用于测试的单个单元。将利用南达科他州黑山的自然实验室在现场对探地雷达系统进行测试，以确定改进系统的波束定向精度。它与地球材料相互作用后，将直接测量透射场。将放置接收天线以从发射天线确定合成场。在波束引导期间，预计放置在目标位置的传感器将在成像波束指向其方向时接收强信号，而位于引导波束外区域的传感器将接收微弱信号。在第二阶段的工作中，第一阶段的成果将用于开发和测试商业上有市场价值的探地雷达系统。这一探地雷达系统是一种创新的方法，将改进和扩大探地雷达在近地表地球勘探中的应用。这项技术的应用包括地下公共设施的定位、预测故障的关键地下结构的静态监测、可能与环境问题有关的地下流体前沿迁移、多相地下水流动和岩土材料中的污染物传输、土壤结构相互作用以及危险废物容器的位置--特别是那些由介电材料建造的容器，对于探测和识别这些容器来说，需要大量的数据。当该系统作为移动平台使用时，将大大降低面目标数据采集的成本，同时提高数据质量。该系统的设计将增强现有的商业探地雷达系统。其低成本的固定天线将增加其市场潜力，因为它们可以被视为“消耗品”。

9561190 Thompson This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will attempt to substantially improve ground probing radar (GPR) by providing beam steering capability to existing GPR systems. Ground-probing radar is a proven technology for the investigation of structures and targets in the subsurface. Existing GPR systems utilize a method (referred to as linear profiling) of dragging the transmitter along a surveillance path and gathering reflection time data to detect dielectric interfaces in the subsurface. The system to be developed in this project will sequentially trigger a linear array of transmitter antenna elements to form a single imaging beam from coherent superpositions of the element transmissions to provide beam steering for wider transmitter coverage, greater depth penetration at high frequencies (100 to 500 MHz), and higher probing resolution. These improvements are also expected to permit ground probing from a mobile platform which will greatly reduce costs of gathering areal data. Due to low antenna cost (of those designed by TWS engineers), the system can be permanently affixed to areas requiring periodic monitoring to detect potentially hazardous movements in the earth's surface (such as underground mines) at a greatly reduced cost. Preliminary development of each task will be performed simultaneously by the principal and co-principal investigators during the first 3 months of the proposed project. The results of each task will then be evaluated to develop a single unit for testing during the second half of the project. Testing of the GPR system will be performed in the field using the natural laboratory of the Black Hills of South Dakota to determine beam steering accuracy of the improved system. The transmission field will be measured directly after it has interacted with earth materials. Receiving antennas will be placed to determine the resultant field from the transmitting antennas. During beam steering, it is anticipated that sensors placed i n target locations will receive strong signals as the imaging beam is aimed in their directions while those in areas outside the steered beam will receive weak signals. The results of Phase I will be used to develop and test a commercially marketable GPR system during the Phase II effort. This GPR system represents an innovative approach that will improve and broaden the application of GPR to near-surface earth exploration. Applications of this technology include location of underground utilities, static monitoring of key underground structures to predict failure, subsurface fluid-front migration that may be associated with environmental concerns, multiphase groundwater flow and contaminant transport in geomaterials, soil structure interaction, and location of hazardous waste containers - particularly those constructed of dielectric materials for which an abundance of data is necessary for detection and identification. When employed as a mobile platform, the system would greatly reduce the cost of data acquisition for areal targets while enhancing data quality. The system will be designed to enhance to existing commercial GPR systems. Its low-cost fixed antennas will add to its market potential because they can be thought of as "consumables."