Using Radar to Investigate Organic Soil Thickness in the Florida Everglades

Abstract

Abstract A ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) system consisting of a control unit, power distribution unit, graphic recorder, tape recorder, and an antenna with a center carrier frequency of 120 MHz was used to investigate the Florida Everglades' Agricultural Area (EAA) organic thickness. Seven important factors that affected the results of GPR were the speed of antenna advance, antenna frequency selection, soil depth determination, soil moisture content, resonance problems, triple bands appearance, and data extension. Two sites located in the EAA were chosen to demonstrate the application of GPR techniques. The results showed that the GPR using a 120 MHz antenna was applicable to investigate the thickness of organic soil in the EAA. The deviations between auger boring data and radar image were within 8 cm in 91% of all samples, and within 12 cm in all samples. The correlation coefficient between the boring and the radar depth was 0.84.