Attenuation
Definition
The reduction in radar signal amplitude with distance traveled. Electrically conductive materials (wet clay, saline soil) convert signal energy to heat, limiting useful depth. Attenuation rate is measured in dB/m and rises steeply with soil conductivity and frequency.
Related terms
- Dielectric permittivity (epsilon)
- A material property that controls how fast electromagnetic waves travel through it and how strongly they reflect at a boundary. Water has...
- Hyperbolic reflection
- The bowtie-shaped pattern in a GPR time section produced as the antenna passes over a point-like object. The shape is governed by...
- Migration
- A processing step that repositions reflections from their apparent location (a spread-out hyperbola) to their true subsurface location (a point or plane),...
- Time window
- The total two-way travel time recorded by the GPR per trace, effectively setting the maximum depth sampled. The time window must be...
- Velocity calibration
- The process of estimating the true electromagnetic wave velocity in the survey soil, usually by fitting a hyperbola to a known reflector...
Explained in
- GPR Signal Physics and Soil Geology EffectsThe reduction in radar signal amplitude with distance traveled. Electrically conductive materials (wet clay, saline soil) convert signal energy to heat, limiti...