Interaction of a UWB impulse with a layer of sandy soil, having a rough upper boundary

https://doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2024.2408036

In this paper, the changes in the character of time shapes, amplitudes, frequency spectra, and time delay of ultra-wideband (UWB) impulses (duration of 0.33 ns) reflected from the layer of wet sand with a rough upper boundary were investigated. It was shown that the attenuation of UWB impulse amplitude, which is reflected from the upper rough boundary of the sand layer, can be described by the model of Fresnel reflection coefficient for a smooth surface using the Gaussian correction factor (FRGC). At this root-mean-square (RMS), height of soil surface roughness was in the range of ~0–21 mm, but the determination coefficient and RMS error (RMSE) were found to be equal to 0.94 and 0.02, respectively. An experiment close to linear increase/decrease in the propagation time of impulses reflected from the upper/lower boundary of the layer, respectively, was found with increasing the RMS heights of upper boundary. It is shown that the propagation time of such impulses can be described by the modified FRGC model with an error from RMSE = 0.09 ns to RMSE = 0.15 ns. The results of these findings are of practical importance for the interpretation of remote sensing data for precise soil moisture measurements from unmanned aerial vehicle platforms using UWB impulses.