Use of radar in road investigation BRRC experience

Abstract

This paper summarizes the radar experience of the Belgian Road Research Centre (BRRC). The BRRC acquired a radar system (horn antennas of 1 and 2 GHz) in order to investigate the road structure: estimation of layer thickness (improvement of back calculation), visualization of homogeneous zones, detection of road damages, and so on. Some case studies are presented here. The possibilities are described but also the limitations of our equipment. The radar improves the knowledge of the road structure but there are some limitations. We hope some of the limitations will be solved by improving the acquisition parameters (equipment or humidity conditions) and the processing.