Standardized Down-Looking Ground-Penetrating Radar (DLGPR) data collections

Down-looking ground penetrating radar (DLGPR) has been used extensively for buried target detection. Performance of a DLGPR is typically measured by calculating the probability of detection (PD) and the false alarm rate (FAR) against a target set in a particular soil type. Variability in target sets, including target construction, size, layout, and burial depth, make comparing performance of a DLGPR across test sites and soil compositions a challenge. This paper describes a recent effort to collect data against a standardized set of target types, layouts, and depths. The goal of this effort is to have data sets collected in a uniform manner at various test sites in Australia and Canada for more meaningful comparisons of DLGPR performance in a range of soil types. The data is to be used to improve algorithms for the automatic detection of targets. This paper will describe test planning and execution, and discuss high-level DLGPR results and ongoing analyses from the Australian data collection.