Three-dimensional FDTD modeling of a ground-penetrating radar

Abstract

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is used to simulate three-dimensional (3-D) geometries of realistic ground-penetrating radar (GPR) scenarios. The radar unit is modeled with two transmitters and a receiver in order to cancel the direct signals emitted by the two transmitters at the receiver. The transmitting and receiving antennas are allowed to have arbitrary polarizations. Single or multiple dielectric and conducting buried targets are simulated. The buried objects are modeled as rectangular prisms and cylindrical disks. Perfectly-matched layer absorbing boundary conditions are adapted and used to terminate the FDTD computational domain, which contains a layered medium due to the ground-air interface.