Antenna considerations and signal processing techniques for the identification of buried non-metallic objects

The U. S. Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development Command (MERADCOM) has been involved in a program for the development of an off-road mine detection system. In 1978, the Georgia Institute of Technology Engineering Experiment Station (GIT/EES) began a 36 month contract to gather and analyze radar data and investigate antenna designs with the goal of improving the ability to detect, discriminate and classify buried targets. The project included tasks of initial data analysis, antenna design and fabrication, extensive data collection, and algorithm development. Section 2 describes the data collection methods used with both the NBS measurement equipment and the MERADCOM short-pulse radar and a preliminary analysis of the data. Section 3 deals with the survey of candidate antennas, the design and fabrication of the 'best' choices, and the testing of those antennas. Test results for a cavity-backed spiral, and a broadband horn are presented and compared with a dipole antenna. Section 4 develops the discrimination concept using frequency spectra data and spartial correlation. Both FFT and MEM were used to obtain spectral data for comparison. The results of the discrimination algorithms are given.