ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the three principal electromagnetic techniques for detecting and locating buried objects. These methods, which constitute the practical state-of-the-art in subsurface detection, span a very wide frequency range and individually exploit the static-field, induction, and wave-propagation aspects of electromagnetic phenomena. The interaction of an electromagnetic field with a conducting body causes electric currents to be induced in that body. When the frequency of excitation is sufficiently low, the induced currents can penetrate deeply into imperfect conductors. The chapter reviews the operation of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and we assess the suitability of GPR systems for locating buried items. It deals with a review of the fundamentals of GPR operation and considers subsurface propagation phenomena, interface effects, waveform selection and signal processing. While conventional radars and GPRs are similar in function, they are considerably different in implementation.
