Experimental studies of subsurface target discrimination using a phase-based microwave imaging method

Abstract

In this work, performance of a novel two-parameter method of microwave subsurface visualization has been studied with the use of experimental data. The method is based on building the image of subsurface area in which the amplitude data govern intensity of the pixels whereas their color is associated with phase information. The phase is understood here as the phase shift related to the reflection act from the buried object. As this phase depends on dielectric properties of buried target, one can distinguish targets by their phase profile. It is shown that the images of different buried objects built with the use of experimental data differ considerably that allows distinguishing them. On the other hand, the phase profiles of the same object are found to be quite stable with respect to its depth ranging from moderate to shallow. This is important for reliability of the discrimination.