WIDMO Spectral Technologies

Non-invasive geological survey is a technology of key importance for many areas of business and science – among others, for mining, construction or archeology. However, the current ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology as well as other non-invasive geophysical methods have a number of very important limitations. The principle of operation of modern impulse radar systems is the emission of short, strong electromagnetic impulses of a given frequency, and the reception of reflections of these signals and their processing. This design has important practical drawbacks and limitations. First of all, the electromagnetic pulse must be very strong – even for a relatively shallow measurement, the power reaches several dozen kilowatts. Measurement in different frequencies requires mechanical interference in the device (exchange of antennas) and repeated measurements. The image of what is below the surface of the ground obtained in this way is very simplified and often insufficiently accurate to make important decisions with high degree of certainty. In addition, obtaining and interpreting such an inaccurate image still requires extensive expert knowledge.

Frequency modulated continuous wave radar developed by WIDMO Spectral Technologies  (formely  SGPR.TECH) will solve many of these problems and will facilitate the work of teams prospecting for mineral deposits, examining the ground for the construction of buildings, or dealing with the maintenance of embankments or landfills. The advantage of the broadband radar is the increased precision of the measurements. This enables the creation of a more extensive profile of the composition of subsurface structures, which will help to make important decisions with greater certainty. It will also shorten the measurement time considerably, which will allow for not only accurate but also quick mapping of an area. The use of new technology will drastically reduce the energy demand of the system. The use of an extremely wide frequency band, also including very low ranges, will allow measurements at much greater depths than those offered by pulse-based radars. The large amounts of detailed data collected by the GPR will be developed by dedicated software. It will make the interpretation of data much simpler, especially since the interpretation of the traditional impulse GPR data requires profound specialist knowledge.