How Does it Work?

Modern use of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology typically involves both single and multi-channel systems in most types of applications e.g. utility mapping, archaeological investigations, forensic investigations etc.

However, when deploying ordinary GPR systems, the results suffer from a lack of real 3D capabilities; the line spacing in surveys will, for practical reasons, be too large, meaning that information loss is inevitable. Similarly, the accurate positioning of a known target cannot easily be made, in both the data acquisition and reporting phase of a project.

The MIRA system is the first commercial system designed to overcome these limitations. Unlike other multi-channel systems - which in many cases should be regarded as parallel single channel systems - MIRA surveying enables fast and true 3D data acquisition. This means that large areas can be mapped without loss of information and that the method is suitable for almost any kind of shallow, subsurface investigation, i.e. targets with arbitrary shape, layers and linear objects are mapped equally well.

Data Acquisition - The Antenna Chart – 16 Transmitters

The most common scheme of data acquisition for MIRA (Malå Imaging Radar Array) is shown below. The MIRA system has an astonishing 16 transmitters which talk to each other and read the ground at different levels, simultaneously. This means the MIRA system looks at the data 16 times, giving you more detailed, in-depth information and faster.

The Technology

System Configuration

The MIRA system comprises many sub-systems. The main parts of the system are listed below:

• Separate transmitter and receiver antennas with the centre frequencies of 200MHz, 400MHz or 1.3 GHz.
• Antenna box.
• Modified ProEx control unit with the MIRA array option. The standard configuration is equipped with 16 channels but it can handle 31 data channels.
• MIRA-Acquisition software for data acquisition.
• MIRA-interpretation software package, rSlicer.
• Positioning system*, robotic total station or RTK GPS.
• Windows based computer* to collect, save and process data.
• Suitable vehicle* or arrangement to move the antenna array.

If you would like to find out more about hiring or buying the MIRA system, please contact us: +44 (0) 1457 879900

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