Characterization of Wall Structures with Microwaves

The DLR – Microwaves and Radar Institute – actually examines the possibility of using microwaves to determine material characteristics of wall structures. Once the structure of a wall is known, ambiguities in localization or focusing erros can be compensated in the sensor data of a Through Wall Imaging radar. The paper will give an overview about our very first steps on the investigation of wall structure determination and how to obtain the unknown wall parameters by using microwave radiation including the theory of wave propagation in layered media and simulation results for radar range signatures of artificial and well defined wall structures. Furthermore measurement results of radar range signatures of real materials and radar range signatures of layered materials in the frequency range of 1 to 8 GHz and 2 to 18 GHz will be presented