This work aims at presenting the main results achieved by Working Group (WG) 1 "Novel Ground Penetrating Radar instrumentation" of the COST (European COoperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar" (www.cost.eu, www.GPRadar.eu). 



The principal goal of the Action, which started in April 2013 and is ending in October 2017, is to exchange and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of Ground Penetrating Radar techniques in civil engineering, whilst promoting throughout Europe the effective use of this safe non-destructive technique. The Action involves more than 300 Members from 28 COST Countries, a Cooperating State, 6 Near Neighbour Countries and 6 International Partner Countries

Benedetto, Andrea

D'Amico, Sebastiano

EGU General Assembly 2017

Ferrara, Vincenzo

Frezza, Fabrizio

Pajewski, Lara

Persico, Raffaele

Tosti, Fabio

UWL Repository

Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 19, EGU2017-15178-1, 2017EGU General Assembly 2017© Author(s) 2017. CC Attribution 3.0 License.COST Action TU1208 – Working Group 1 – Design and realisation ofGround Penetrating Radar equipment for civil engineering applicationsLara Pajewski (1), Andrea Benedetto (2), Sebastiano D’Amico (3), Vincenzo Ferrara (1), Fabrizio Frezza (1),Raffaele Persico (4), and Fabio Tosti (5)(1) Sapienza University, Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications, Roma, Italy(lara.pajewski@uniroma1.it), (2) Roma Tre University, Department of Engineering, Roma, Italy(andrea.benedetto@uniroma3.it), (3) University of Malta, Physics Department, Msida, Malta(sebastiano.damico@um.edu.mt), (4) CNR (National Research Council), IBAM, Lecce, Italy (r.persico@ibam.cnr.it), (5)University of West London, School of Computing and Engineering (fabio.tosti@uwl.ac.uk)This work aims at presenting the main results achieved by Working Group (WG) 1 “Novel Ground PenetratingRadar instrumentation” of the COST (European COoperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 “CivilEngineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar” (www.cost.eu, www.GPRadar.eu).The principal goal of the Action, which started in April 2013 and is ending in October 2017, is to ex-change and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of Ground Penetrating Radar techniques incivil engineering, whilst promoting throughout Europe the effective use of this safe non-destructive technique.The Action involves more than 300 Members from 28 COST Countries, a Cooperating State, 6 Near NeighbourCountries and 6 International Partner Countries.The most interesting achievements of WG1 include:1. The state of the art on GPR systems and antennas was composed; merits and limits of current GPR sys-tems in civil engineering applications were highlighted and open issues were identified.2. The Action investigated the new challenge of inferring mechanical (strength and deformation) propertiesof flexible pavement from electromagnetic data. A semi-empirical method was developed by an Italian researchteam and tested over an Italian test site: a good agreement was found between the values measured by using a lightfalling weight deflectometer (LFWD) and the values estimated by using the proposed semi-empirical method,thereby showing great promises for large-scale mechanical inspections of pavements using GPR. Subsequently,the method was tested on a real scale, on an Italian road in the countryside: again, a good agreement betweenLFWD and GPR data was achieved. As a third step, the method was tested at larger scale, over three different roadsections within the districts of Madrid and Guadalajara, in Spain: GPR surveys were carried out at the speed oftraffic for a total of 39 kilometers, approximately; results were collected by using different GPR antennas providedby the Italian company IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi; in cooperation with the Spanish company Euroconsult, aninstrumented lorry equipped with a curviameter was used in the same road sections. Curviameter and GPR resultswere compared, with very good agreement.3. A reconfigurable stepped-frequency GPR prototype was improved and widely tested. The original ver-sion of this prototype was designed and realised in Italy, in 2008. In June 2014, with the support of the ActionTU1208 (and in particular by exploiting the Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) networking tool), thisprototype was brought to Norway: tests were carried out in laboratory, on roads and archaelogical sites; resultswere compared with those obtained by using a commercial system manufactured by the Norwegian manufacturer3d-radar. As a result of this work, it was possible to understand how to improve the Italian prototype. Changes tothe hardware were implemented in cooperation with the company Florence Engineering. In the improved versionof the prototype, a more advanced technique is used for the reconfiguration of the integration times. In July2015, by exploiting again the STSM tool, the prototype was brought to Malta: tests were carried out in buildings,churches, archaeological and geological sites; results were compared with those obtained by using a commercialpulsed system manufactured by IDS Ingegneria dei Sistemi. It is worth pointing out that this was the first timeGPR measurements were carried out in Malta, where no GPR systems are available. Finally, in January 2016 theimproved prototype was again brought to Malta in order to be used during the experimental sessions of a TU1208Training School. This is an excellent example of a successful scientific activity where STSM and TS COSTnetworking tools were effectively exploited, the cooperation with industry was of central importance, and a lessresearch-intensive Country was deliberately chosen, to test the improved system.4. A cheap frequency-modulated continuous-wave GPR prototype was designed and realized by an Italianresearch team; detailled instructions, describing how to build this radar step-by-step, will be available by theend of the Action. The idea behind this initiative is to support and encourage institutes in less research-intensiveCountries, who cannot afford a commercial system, to build their own prototype for training purposes and to startfamiliarizing with the GPR technique.5. A new stepped-frequency ground-coupled multi-antenna GPR system for road and bridge inspection wasdeveloped by 3d-radar (manufacturer based in Norway) and presented during the GPR 2014 conference as acontribution to COST Action TU1208. The starting point was an analogous commercial system, with air-coupledantennas. For road inspection, air-coupled antennas offer practical advantages over ground-coupled antennas(mainly, the possibility to carry out measurements at higher speeds); moreover, they allow enhanced detectionof shallow layers inside the road structure. On the other hand, data from ground-coupled array contain muchmore details from individual scatterers, making them more suitable to image the granularity of the road basematerials and for bridge deck inspection, where reinforcement rebar has to be imaged. Ground-coupled GPRsystems also provide higher penetrating depth due to a stronger coupling of energy into the ground. The novelstepped-frequency ground-coupled GPR exploits an array of boomerang-shaped monopole elements.6. Recommendations for the safety of people and equipment during GPR prospecting were produced. De-spite the increasing demand of GPR surveys all over the world, safety matters are rarely considered. The Actionput efforts into debating them, with scientists and professionals performing GPR surveys. As an outcome of thisactivity, a book was published where a series of recommendations are provided. These include general hints,recommendations for surveys carried out in challenging environmental situations, description of risks associatedto specific applications, instructions for first medical aid, information about GPR electromagnetic emissions andassociated risks, and finally suggestions for a safe use of the equipment and for a respectful interaction with theenvironment.7. WG1 contributed to the TU1208 Education Pack, an open-access educational package conceived to teach GPRin University courses.8. Three Training Schools were organised on radar systems and antennas, in cooperation with the Euro-pean School of Antennas (ESoA): two editions of the Training School "Future Radar Systems: Radar2020" and aTraining School on "UWB Antennas, Technologies and Applications". These courses were held in the KarlsruheInstitute of Technology, in Karlsruhe, Germany.Acknowledgement:The Authors are deeply grateful to COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology, www.cost.eu), forfunding and supporting the COST Action TU1208 “Civil engineering applications of Ground Penetrating Radar"(www.GPRadar.eu).

COST Action TU1208 – Working Group 1 – Design and realisation of Ground Penetrating Radar equipment for civil engineering applications

This work aims at presenting the main results achieved by Working Group (WG) 1 "Novel Ground Penetrating Radar instrumentation" of the COST (European COoperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar" (www.cost.eu, www.GPRadar.eu).

The principal goal of the Action, which started in April 2013 and is ending in October 2017, is to exchange and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of Ground Penetrating Radar techniques in civil engineering, whilst promoting throughout Europe the effective use of this safe non-destructive technique. The Action involves more than 300 Members from 28 COST Countries, a Cooperating State, 6 Near Neighbour Countries and 6 International Partner Countries.peer-reviewe

OAR@UM

COST action TU1208 : working group 1 : design and realisation of ground penetrating radar equipment for civil engineering applications

This work aims at presenting the main results achieved by Working Group (WG) 1 “Novel Ground Penetrating
Radar instrumentation” of the COST (European COoperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 “Civil
Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar” (www.cost.eu, www.GPRadar.eu).
The  principal  goal  of  the  Action,  which  started  in  April  2013  and  is  ending  in  October  2017,  is  to  ex-
change and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of Ground Penetrating Radar techniques in
civil engineering, whilst promoting throughout Europe the effective use of this safe non-destructive technique.
The Action involves more than 300 Members from 28 COST Countries, a Cooperating State, 6 Near Neighbour
Countries and 6 International Partner Countries

PAJEWSKI, Lara

D’Amico, Sebastiano

FERRARA, Vincenzo

FREZZA, Fabrizio

Archivio della ricerca- Università di Roma La Sapienza

https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/95543/1/COST_Action_TU1208_Working_Group_1.pdf

COST Action TU1208 – Working Group 1 – Design and realisation of Ground Penetrating Radar equipment for civil engineering applications

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