Impact of root diameter and water content on tree roots detection using Ground Penetrating Radar
Abstract
Several factors limit the root detection using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). By using simulations under optimal conditions in terms of mode operation, we establish a two-dimensional grid enabling to evaluate the detectability of roots according to their diameter and water content. The decision about root detectability is made by applying a chain of post-processing to simulation outputs. Using a bi-static GPR system involving folded complementary bowtie antennas, we also carried out laboratory experiments on “freshly-extracted” roots inside an anechoic chamber in order to get experimental radargrams and have a reference for simulation color scale.