Critical Analysis of Background Subtraction Techniques on Real GPR Data

Prabhat Sharma; Bambam Kumar; Dharmendra Singh; S. P. Gaba

doi:10.14429/dsj.67.10048

Prabhat Sharma Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008
Bambam Kumar Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee - 247 667
Dharmendra Singh Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee - 247 667
S. P. Gaba Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.67.10048

Keywords: Ground penetrating radar, Singular value decomposition, Principal component analysis, Independent component analysis, Training method, SCR, Generalised inner product, Generalised likelihood ratio

Abstract

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is used to detect the underground buried objects for civil as well as defence applications under varying conditions of soil moisture content. The capability of detection depends upon soil moisture, target characteristics and subsurface characteristics, which are mainly responsible for contaminating the GPR images with clutter. Researchers earlier have used averaging, mean, median, Eigen values, etc. for subtracting the background from GPR images. To analyse the background subtraction or clutter reduction problems, in this paper, we have experimentally reviewed background subtraction techniques with or without target conditions to enhance the target detection under variable soil moisture content. Indigenously developed GPR has been used to collect the data for different soil conditions and several background subtraction signal processing techniques were critically reviewed like, mean, median, singular value decomposition (SVD), principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA) and training methods. The signal to clutter ratio (SCR) measurement has been used for performance evaluation of each technique. The relative merits and demerits of each technique has also been analysed. The background subtraction techniques have been appliedto experimental GPR data and it is observed that in comparison of mean, SVD, median, ICA, PCA, the training method shows the highest SCR with buried target. Finally, this review helps to select the comparatively better background subtraction technique to enhance the detection capability in GPR.

Author Biographies

Prabhat Sharma, Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008

Mr Prabhat Sharma received his BE from Govt. Engineering College Kota (Rajasthan Technical University, Kota), in 2000 and MTech from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in 2011 and currently pursuing his PhD in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. Presently, working as scientist in Instrument Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun. His research interest include: RF signal processing, remote sensing and laser range sensor.

Bambam Kumar, Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee - 247 667

Mr Bambam Kumar is currently pursuing his PhD (Hidden Object Detection through Microwave and MMW Imaging) at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee. He has got a young scientist award 2016 organised by UCOST, Uttarakhand. His research interest includes : RF and microwave engineering, microwave and MMW imaging, and electromagnetic.

Dharmendra Singh, Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee - 247 667

Dr Dharmendra Singh received the PhD (Electronics Engineering) from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He is currently a Professor with the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India. He has published more than 190 papers in various national/ international journals and conferences. His main research interests include : Microwave remote sensing, electromagnetic wave interaction with various media, polarimetric and interferometric applications of microwave data, numerical modelling, ground penetrating radar, and through-wallimaging.

S. P. Gaba, Instruments Research and Development Establishment, Dehradun - 248 008

Mr S.P. Gaba received his MSc (Physics) from Garhwal University, in 1978 and MPhil (Instrumentation) from University of Roorkee (Now IIT, Roorkee), in 1979. Presently working as Scientist at IRDE, Dehradun and he is associated with the development of laser range finder and development for various roles. He is recipient of DRDO Technology Awards and DRDO Agni Award in 2013. He has published/ presented about 40 papers in various journals and conferences.