Journal of Radio Electronics. eISSN 1684-1719. 2026. №7

Full text in Russian (pdf)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2026.7.13

INCREASING THE RANGE OF SUBSURFACE RADAR

V.V. Antipov, D.A. Smirnov, V.I. Sakhtyerov

Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation RAS,
108840, Russia, Moscow, Troitsk, Kaluga highway 4

The paper was received June 8, 2026.

Abstract. Currently, there is a wide variety of radar devices used both for free-space radar and for subsurface radar. The purpose of this work is to theoretically and experimentally substantiate the possibility of increasing the range of subsurface radar by increasing the power of the radiated ultrawideband signal and optimizing the characteristics of the antenna-feeder devices. The main research methods included calculations according to the recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for free space, as well as field measurements of the parameters of dipole and resistively loaded dipole antennas on a semi-cylindrical measuring stand. It is shown that shallow ground-penetrating radars with a dynamic range of 135 dB can provide radar at a distance of up to 1 km at frequencies below 40 MHz, and deep ground-penetrating radars with a dynamic range of 154 dB – up to 1 km at frequencies up to 420 MHz. It has been experimentally established that the efficiency of resistively loaded dipole antennas for the first pulses is 43-45 %, and the overall efficiency of the system using two antennas is about 22 %. It was found that reducing the vibrator resistance below 250 Ohms can lead to parasitic self-oscillations. The obtained results are confirmed by practical sounding data to depths of 150-200 m and more in permafrost regions. Thus, increasing the amplitude of the radiated signal by a factor of n increases the radar range proportionally to √n, which opens up prospects for creating ground-penetrating radars with a range of up to several hundred meters or more.

Key words: ground penetrating radar, antennas, radiation pattern, signal processing.

Financing: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-12-00083-P.

Corresponding author: Smirnov Dmitry Andreevich, dsmirnov@izmiran.ru/, diman.smirny@yandex.ru

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For citation:

Antipov V.V., Smirnov D.A., Sakhtyerov V.I. Increasing the range of subsurface radar. // Journal of Radio Electronics. – 2026. – №. 7. https://doi.org/10.30898/1684-1719.2026.7.13 (In Russian)