Use of ground penetrating radar and standard geophysical methods to explore the subsurface

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a series of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and passive seismic measurements performed in Malta in 2015, during a Short-Term Scientific Mission (STSM) funded by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action TU1208 “Civil engineering applications of Ground Penetrating Radar.” The main purposes of the measurements were: to test the performance of an innovative reconfigurable stepped-frequency GPR prototype, recently upgraded thanks to the results of the research activities carried out in Norway during a previous TU1208 STSM; to investigate the geological conditions of some sites of historical and environmental interest; and to assess the internal status of two monuments. To the best of our knowledge, the GPR measurements carried out during this STSM constitute the first GPR investigations ever performed in Malta.