Analysis of cross-borehole pulse radar signatures measured at various tunnel angles

Abstract

A pulse radar system has been developed recently to detect dormant underground tunnels that are deeply located at depths of hundreds of metres. To check the ability of the radar system to detect an obliquely oriented tunnel, five different borehole pairs in the tunnel test site were chosen so that the horizontal lines-of-sight cut the tunnel axis obliquely, in 15 degrees steps. The pulse radar signatures were measured over a depth range of 20 m around the centre of the air-filled tunnel. Three canonical parameters, consisting of the arrival time, attenuation, and dispersion time were extracted from the first and second peaks of the measured radar signatures. Using those parameters, the radar system can detect obliquely oriented tunnels at various angles up to 45 degrees from the transmitter-receiver line of sight.