This grant provides funds for the acquisition of Ground-penetrating Radar equipment, including a data acquisition system, antennas at a number of frequencies, a mounting cart and odometer wheel, a field computer and processing software. This equipment will support current and planned research in a wide range of fields, including environmental geophysics and hydrology, sedimentary geology, archaeology and electrical engineering. Some applications will use standard antenna configurations and signal processing; for these, ease of use is essential. Other applications will make use of alternative antenna configurations and new developments in signal processing and interpretation; for these, we require flexibility in the system and access to raw data. While the proposed equipment is intended primarily to support research, there is also a very important educational component. Undergraduate and graduate students in geology, geophysics, archaeology and electrical engineering will gain experience in GPR data acquisition, processing and interpretation. In doing so, they as well as their faculty will gain an understanding of the usefulness and the limitations of this powerful tool for their own current and future research. Support for this grant comes from the Earth Sciences Instrumentation and Facilities Program (EAR/IF), with 50% cost sharing by Binghamton University. The equipment will be housed in and maintained by the Department of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies.
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