GPR Data Analysis for Accurate Estimation of Underground Utilities Diameter

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a remote sensing technique capable of non-destructively detecting and locating subterranean utilities. However, estimating the diameter of these utilities from raw GPR scans remains problematic. An accurate measurement cannot be obtained directly from the results of the GPR scan data. This article analyses the GPR scans for measuring the diameter in a homogenous medium of the underground utilities. The analysis is based on a geometrical and mathematical model. Uncertainty of the model parameters is also examined to characterize the differences between the actual output values and the model output values. The two factors of uncertainty that are used in this analysis are the depth and the relative permittivity of the target. The GPR scan data used in the analysis was generated using the numerical simulator gprMax, which uses the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Also, experimental data is used to estimate the diameter of buried water pipes. This paper improves the estimation of the diameter of buried utilities in a homogeneous medium. The simulation results confirm the validity of the model to attain this objective.