Brief communication: Monitoring active layer dynamics using a lightweight nimble ground-penetrating radar system – a laboratory analogue test case

• Published in: The cryosphere Vol. 17; no. 3; pp. 1271 - 1277
• Main Authors: Léger, Emmanuel, Saintenoy, Albane, Serhir, Mohammed, Costard, François, Grenier, Christophe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 15.03.2023; Copernicus; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Active layer; Antennas; Cold; Communication; Cryosphere; Dielectric properties; Dynamics; Electromagnetism; Environmental Sciences; Freeze-thaw; Freezing; Ground penetrating radar; Hydrologic processes; Hydrology; Laboratories; Laboratory experimentation; Laboratory tests; Monitoring; Porous materials; Radar; Radar equipment; Radar systems; Reflection; Reflectometers; Sensors; Thawing; Copper Mountain; permafrost; Active layer; Ground penetrating radar GPR
• ISSN: 1994-0424; 1994-0416; 1994-0424; 1994-0416
• DOI: 10.5194/tc-17-1271-2023

Monitoring active layer dynamics is critical for improving the understanding of near-surface thermal and hydrological processes in the cryosphere. This study presents the laboratory test of a low-cost ground-penetrating radar (GPR) system within a laboratory experiment of active layer freezing and thawing monitoring. The system is an in-house-built low-power monostatic GPR antenna coupled with a reflectometer piloted by a single-board computer (SBC) and was tested prior to field deployment. The correspondence between the frozen front electromagnetic (EM) reflection and temperature allowed us to test the ability of the system to closely monitor the frozen front and bottom of the active layer reflection.