Pipe-flange detection with GPR

Abstract

This paper describes an application of the ground penetrating radar (GPR) method for detecting pipe flanges. A case history is described in which GPR was successfully used to locate pipe flanges along an 8 km metal pipeline, using a fixed-offset methodology, from the ground surface. Summaries of numerical simulations and in situ tests, performed before the definitive prospecting to evaluate the feasibility of detection, are included. Typical GPR signals are analysed and several examples shown. Constant-time sections of data volumes and migration are evaluated with the goal of distinguishing flange signals from rock signals in unclear situations. The applied methodology was effective for detecting the pipe flanges in relatively short times, with accuracies below 10 cm in the horizontal direction and 20 cm in the vertical direction.