TDR shock velocity measurements in an intense ionizing radiation environment

A shock velocity gage has been developed which uses time domain reflectometry technique to evaluate a shock wave as a function of time and position along a transmission line. The gage is useful from about one kilobar to over 500 kilobars. In underground nuclear tests, the cable characteristics may be modified and erroneous data may be collected due to pulse distortion. However, the pulse distortion may be evaluated to yield usable data if the radiation modified cable characteristics are understood.