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Viewing entries tagged with 'gpr'
Radar through the world’s tallest dunes
Groundradar has just returned from an R&D project in Namibia, where UltraGPR was used to profile various dune forms as part of an on-going research project using radar to construct petroleum reservoir analogies. Dune 45, a star dune near Sussusvlei, is known as the “world’s most photographed dune” and has been a default wallpaper on Microsoft Windows (98, XP, Vista, 7). The radar profile shows the base of the dune to 70 m. The profile was acquired along a ridge of dune, resulting in unremarkable internal structures. The Sussusvlei dunes are believed to be amongst the tallest in the world.
Groundradar has conducted surveys in over 65 countries
With the recent addition of Suriname, Groundradar has now conducted GPR surveys in every South American nation, from Colombia to Chile. Suriname also brings the total countries Groundradar has worked in to over 65.
Visit Groundradar at PDAC Booth 702
Groundradar will be exhibiting at the PDAC in Toronto, Canada (March 6-9), the world’s largest annual mining convention Visit booth 702 to learn more about Groundradar’s unique long-range GPR technology for mineral resource evaluations.
Groundradar receives custom dielectric probe in Estonia
Groundradar has recently visited Estonia to take delivery of a custom dielectric permittivity probe, which is also capable of providing electrical conductivity and soil moisture readings. As the potential applications for Groundradar’s proprietary long-range GPR instruments grow, traditional limitations on suitable GPR survey locations are increasingly challenged. Groundradar will use the new probes at a variety of new application sites worldwide to test parameters critical to the prediction of radar performance. Clients may now employ this instrument prior to Groundradar’s mobilisation to provide critical measurements which Groundradar will use to determine the maximum predicted range and resolution of a survey, as well as the most suitable radar system for the task.
MineVue deployed in August to India, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia
Groundradar’s latest custom long-range radar system, MineVue, has been trialled extensively both above and underground at a series of Indian coal mines in Jharkand and West Bengal states. The system was able to detect abandoned coal workings at impressive depths in environments where complete radar shielding was required. 
MineVue was also tested in Papua New Guinea and Australia, where the system was used to detect voids in limestone to depths of over 40 m in cluttered surroundings where traditional low-frequency unshielded radar systems would have been unsuitable. Although limestone is generally an excellent radar environment, some limestones, particularly those with a weathered mantle of clays, can prove problematic for traditional radar equipment. MineVue is a hybrid radar system comprising of a real-time sampling impulse radar as well as a pulse-compression radar which is completely shielded, easily portable, deep penetrating, and continuously tracked by DGPS. 
A challenging laterite project in Indonesia where unshielded antennas have been unsuccessful was the site of further MineVue surveying. The results of trials were very encouraging, opening new applications for custom GPR instrumentation. 
MineVue coal radar system surveys in India
Groundradar’s new MineVue hybrid GPR system was used extensively at a number of coal mines in India to detect abandoned workings at impressive depths from both above and within mine tunnels. MineVue is an ATEX-approved, intrinsically-safe long-range GPR system designed specifically for deep void detection in mines where unshielded antennas are unsuitable. In nearly every open-pit mine where abandoned workings pose a geotechnical and safety issue, unshielded radar antennas are generally unsuitable due to the above-ground reflections from the near-by mine walls. Similarly, unshielded antennas are impossible to use underground due to the reverberations of reflections from the opposing tunnel walls. MineVue addresses these issues by using a highly effective, yet lightweight, shield, along with two advanced long-range radar systems on a single circuit board. Acquisition and data display is handled by a small Windows Mobile device, eliminating the need for bulky laptops. 
Groundradar surveys January – May, 2010: 1500 km, 15 countries, 6 continents
Groundradar has undertaken an unprecedented volume of long-range GPR projects during the first five months of 2010, in environments ranging from -35 C in the Russian Far East to + 40 C in the Algerian Sahara. Applications have included bauxite and nickel laterite resource delineation to iron ore and limestone exploration projects, as well as further ground-breaking work on seismic static corrections. 
Groundradar to present two papers at GPR2010
Two papers will be presented at the GPR2010 conference in Italy in June. “Applications of GPR to Mineral Resource Evaluations” (Jan Francke) provides an up-to-date overview of ground penetrating radar applications in the surface mining sector, including examples of laterite, bauxite, iron ore, and alluvial exploration using the latest radar technologies. “Constructing Hyrdocarbon Reservoir Analogues With Rapid-Acquisition Long-Rage GPR (Dominic Tatum and Jan Francke) present a case study of the use of UltraGPR to create a full 3D volume of the internal structure of a sand dune in southern Libya. A region of 350 m X 500 m was imaged in full 3D to a depth of 60 m with 1 m spaced lines. Over 160 km of radar profiles were acquired in less than 6 hours, yielding never before seen detail of the complex bedding strata to the base of the dune. 
Adrove and Francke author paper on the use of advanced GPR for abandoned tunnel detection
Jan Francke has co-authored a paper entitled “Application of advanced ground penetrating radar technology for abandoned working detection at Geita Gold Mine, Tanzania”. The paper, to be presented at an AngloGold Ashanti conference in September, 2009 discusses the use of UltraGPR to image abandoned workings at an open pit operation in Tanzania. UltraGPR was able to detect a series of voids at a coverage rate of one hectare per day with one metre-spaced profiles.
UltraGPR technology featured in First Break Magazine
Jan Francke of Groundradar and Vincent Utsi of Utsi Electronics have written a paper on advances in long-range GPR technology. A detailed background on radar theory is provided, along with case histories from a variety of mining and geotechnical applications. First Break is the leading publication in Europe serving the geoscience and engineering communities, with a circulation of over 15,000 copies monthly. The article, entitled "Advances in long-range GPR systems and their applications to mineral exploration, geotechnical and static correction problems" is featured as a Special Topic in the July 2009 issue (www.firstbreak.nl). A downloadable version of the paper is available here (©2009 EAGE).
