A TDR SYSTEM FOR SUBSURFACE POLLUTANTS DETECTION (II): APPLICATION & ANALYSIS

The proposed work utilizes a TDR based system for the in-situ detection of subsurface pollutants. Concentration of pollutant species is extracted by measuring and analyzing the variation of soil-pollutant dielectric properties as a function of concentration of the pollutant in the soil. In order to quantify measured concentration of pollutant in subsurface soil, a calibration curve is generated from modeling the TDR system by electrical parameters using transmission line theory. The modeled system is simulated and the model parameters were optimized via the determined experimental data. Based on the optimized parameters (resistance and capacitance), a calibration curve is produced, thus enabling the extraction of the pollutant concentration. Presented Experimental measurements include the response of the detection system for various species concentration. Considered applications include solution samples and soil samples. System modeling for each case is presented as well as the optimized model parameters considering different criterions such as the average and the root-mean-square average of the measured signal. A discussion of considering other criterions, such as the time delay of the reflected signal and the rise time and/or fall time of incident and reflected signals, to extract pollutants concentration is also presented.

R.A. Said and N.K. AlShawawreh
Electrical Engineering Department
United Arab Emirates University
A-Alin, United Arab Emirates

A.M.O. Mohamed
Civil Engineering Department
United Arab Emirates University
A-Alin, United Arab Emirates