SBIR Phase I: Enhanced Airborne Beam-Steering for Ground Probing Radar

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This Small Business Innovation Research project will apply recent advances in ground probing radar (GPR) technology to the aerial reconnaissance of underground facilities (UGF). Ground probing radar is a proven technology for investigating subsurface targets and structures. Its application to subsurface monitoring from airborne platforms, however, has been limited due to clutter and signal strength problems. The project seeks to overcome these problems by the use of a beamsteered antenna array that provides increased signal power and increased angular resolution. The system will ultimately be suspended from an airborne platform to facilitate rapid coverage of a region of interest (ROI). The narrow transmit array beam scans the ROI, and at the correct angle of incidence a strong reflection from the UGF is received. The phase I project comprises three main tasks: first, simulating the proposed system; second, using the results of simulations to refine existing array control algorithms, and; third, testing the hardware prototype. A large part of the effort lies in software development in simulations and algorithm refinement. The results of Phase I will be used to develop and test a commercially marketable GPR system during the phase II effort. If the technology can be successfully developed, it will make airborne detection of near-surface UGFs in realistic environments feasible. The system is designed to enhance existing commercial GPR systems and will greatly reduce the cost of data acquisition of areal targets while enhancing data quality. The dynamic monitoring aspect of the instrumentation is unique and has application from the standpoint of characterizing extensive hazardous waste sites numbering in the thousands across the United States. This option will provide a low-cost alternative to invasive monitoring techniques.