ABSTRACT


Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is one of the efficient ways of detecting buried objects. It is a geo-physical technique used to illustrate the subsurface object:> by using radar pulses (electromagnetic waves). The electromagnetic pulses are transmitted and received by the ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna in the GPR module for the identification of hidden objects The mam issue in the characteristic evaluation of GPR system for the detection of objects is the antenna reflections. These reflections result tn the late-time ringing and therefore merging with the buried object reflection which make problem in the identification of hidden objects. Antenna reflection could be reduced by altering the antenna structure. Therefore, the core objective of this research work is to reduce the reflections from the antenna by optirnizing the structure of the GPR antenna. This thesis present parametric study of the design and comparison of UWB antennas, (i.e. conventional and optimized Viva ldi Antenna {30.582Gllz- 41 .7l 2GHz) for GPR application Vivaldi antennas are designed and simulated by CST Microwave Studio; then modeled in the GPR
scenario (i.e the scatterer buried in the earth). The reflected antenna signals are analyzed. The time domain and frequency domain characteristics of the conventional and optimized antennas are analyzed and compared. The optimized antenna shows better performance characteristics as compared to conventional antenna. The optimized antenna is therefore tested m the GPR environment. The optimized antenna proved to be a good candidate for GPR applications.