Wideband Cavity-Backed Slot Antenna for Ground Penetrating Free of Direct Ground Bounce

Abstract

A novel cavity-backed slot antenna is designed for ground-penetrating radars. When attached to the ground surface, this antenna is capable of coupling electromagnetic power into the ground with the maximum efficiency over wide frequency bands. A simulation tool is developed to precisely model the interaction between the antenna and ground media. Three fabricated antenna prototypes exhibit at least 25% input impedance bandwidth over a range of ground materials. Furthermore, a two-element antenna array is built, and bi-static radar measurement reveals that the impact of air-ground interface is successfully removed when the array is placed conformal to the sand surface.