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GPR Data Analysis for Accurate Estimation of Underground Utilities Diameter

  • ELECTROMAGNETIC METHODS
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Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

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.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the two national companies OTC and SONEDE for providing the radar data and utility mapping as well as Mr. Graig Warren for his help on using the open-source software gprMax.

Funding

No funding was received for conducting this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Monastir, Faculté des Sciences de Monastir, Laboratoire de Micro-électronique et Instrumentation, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia

    Rim Ghozzi, Samer Lahouar & Chokri Souani

  2. Université de Sousse, École Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Sousse, Technopole of Sousse Novation City, 4023, Sousse, Tunisia

    Rim Ghozzi

  3. Center for Research in Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, CRMN, Technopole of Sousse Novation City, 4054, Sousse, Tunisia

    Samer Lahouar

  4. Université de Sousse, Institut Supérieur des Sciences Appliquées et de Technologie de Sousse, 4003, Sousse, Tunisia

    Chokri Souani

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  1. Rim Ghozzi
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  2. Samer Lahouar
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  3. Chokri Souani
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Correspondence to Rim Ghozzi.

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Ghozzi, R., Lahouar, S. & Souani, C. GPR Data Analysis for Accurate Estimation of Underground Utilities Diameter. Russ J Nondestruct Test 58, 195–204 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S106183092203007X

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