GPR antenna simulations in time domain

The development of transient antennas for Ground Penetrating Radar would be difficult without numerical simulations of their performance. To this end FDTD code should be considered as a useful and powerful tool for transient antenna analysis. As an example of such analysis we describe simulations of the dielectric wedge antenna. Detailed investigations on such key model elements as the staircase approximation of 3D structures, the antenna feed model, the cell size and the size of the domain of computation were carried out. Very good agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental results was observed. Some of antenna characteristics (like the radial component of the electric field in the near zone, the radiated waveform and the antenna footprint in different grounds) cannot be measured easily, so the correct theoretical (numerical) model is essential for their determination. The numerical model of the antenna can be also used for optimization of the antenna.