Multi-Feature Based Multiple Pipelines Detection Using Ground Penetration Radar

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is one of the common sensor system used for underground inspection which emits electromagnetic waves that can pass through objects. The reflecting waves are recorded and digitized, and then, the images are formed. According to the properties of scanning object, GPR creates higher or lower intensity values on the object regions. Thus, these changes in signal represent the properties of scanning object. This technique includes transmission and reception of electromagnetic waves by means of which it is aimed at achieving an exploration depth of few meters with a resolution of several centimeters. For this interpretation of GPR data requires a human operation with high skill and experience, thus costing high amount of time and money. Therefore the development of noninvasive techniques to explore and retrieve information about the underground has shown a growing interest in the last years by public as well as private entities related to different application fields, such as oil and gas exploration, geology, conduits and pipes location. In this paper, an algorithm is composed of four steps; estimation of the number of multiple objects buried in the ground, isolation of each object, feature extraction and detection of pipelines. The number of objects in the GPR signal is estimated by using the energy projection method. Then signals for the objects are extracted by using the symmetry filtering method. Each signal is then processed for features, which are given as input for detection. Two pipelines buried in various ground conditions are considered for the test of the proposed method. They demonstrate that the proposed method can successfully detect buried pipelines..