Comparison of ray tracing and FDTD methods in ground penetrating radar (GPR) modeling

The synthetic ground penetrating radar (GPR) modelling studies are quite important in the interpretation of shallow geological properties such as faulting, bedding, weathering etc. This study aims to simulate some shallow geological structures using ray-tracing and finite-differences time-domain (FDTD) techniques and to compare each other. To obtain a successful interpretation, we performed the synthetic modelling studies for some fault types (such as normal, thrust and strike-slip faults) using different values of electrical parameters that affect the radar signals. The variations that depend on the electrical and magnetic properties of the subsurface materials were investigated with the synthetic modeling studies of these geological structures. During the modelling studies, we produced several models with various subsurface conditions. Additionally, real GPR data was collected from an area that has faults and bedding problems. As a result, the combined usage of the real GPR data and synthetic modelling could be contribute the joint interpretation on shallow geological structures. Keywords: GPR, modeling, ray-tracing, finite-differences time-domain