Analysis of Ultra-Wideband ridged-horn antennas for Ground Penetrating radar systems

In this article, the characterization by numerical analysis and the experimental results for two real ultra-wideband (UWB) ridged-horn antennas, used in the reflection configuration that is usually exploited in ground penetrating radar (GPR) prospecting applications, are presented. The numerical analysis is fully three-dimensional and is performed by the finite element method (FEM). In order to assess the validity of the results of the numerical analysis, they have been compared to measurements collected in the laboratory. The comparison confirms that the FEM simulation tool can provide accurate results, provided that all the details of the antennas are carefully taken into account and that the embedding environment is sufficiently characterised with regard to its electromagnetic properties.