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Comparing Real Beam and Synthetic Aperture Techniques for


Slope Stability Radar

Dr I D Longstaff, Emeritus Professor, University of Queensland, Australia White Paper C1001

Constraints
Real-Beam Radar
(eg. GroundProbe SSR and Reutech MSR)
Synthetic Aperture Radar
(eg. IDS IBIS)
Mapping Displacement The most robust and most accurate in 3D. The least robust and inaccurate in 3D.
Coverage of Slope 100% of scanned area
Typically 70% of the scanned area some data has artifacts and
is systemically unreliable.
Maximum Sector scanned
Typically +/- 120
o
in front, left side and right
side directions with potential for 360
o
cover
Up to +/- 30
o
in front direction only
Monitoring Steep Slopes
relative to line of sight
Suitable. Not suitable.
Monitoring Shallow Slopes
at long range
Suitable but not for extremely long ranges
(many kilometers)
Suitable for all ranges
There are currently two generic types of slope monitoring radar
commercially available. These are similar in the way they measure
displacement but differ markedly in the way they locate and map the
measured displacements. The technology used in these mapping
processes has an important impact on the suitability of these radars for
particular applications. The principal difference between the two types is
the technology forming the spatial distribution of the reflections from
the surfaces to be monitored. One type is real-beam radar. This has a
conventional dish antenna which mechanically scans a pencil beam in
raster fashion over the region of interest, as in Figure 1a.
The other type is synthetic aperture radar (SAR) where a small antenna
slides along a rail collecting data which is processed to form multiple fan
shaped beams, as in Figure 1b.
Important differences between these two techniques are:-
The mechanically scanned pencil beam, together with range
information forms a three dimensional representation of the
surface to be monitored, Figure 1a. This allows a three dimensional
representation of the rock face with the displacement
characteristics superimposed in colour.

In contrast the SAR scans only in azimuth with a fan beam which
simultaneously covers all elevation angles, Figure 1b. A fine grain
digital terrain model (3D Mine Map) is required to map range into
elevation. This is not produced by the radar. Alternatively a
uniformly sloping ground can be assumed but this distorts the
image if the assumption is not a good fit.
Background
In recent years we have seen the emergence of commercial slope
stability radar products to improve safety in open cut mines. These are
the SSR from GroundProbe, the MSR from Reutech, and the IBIS from
IDS. The SSR and MSR use a real-beam radar technique, while the IBIS
uses a synthetic aperture technique. There are significant differences in
the real-beam and synthetic aperture techniques which impact on the
best choice of system for a particular application. Geotechnical
engineers, mine managers, and mine safety officers are involved in the
selection and setting up of these radars and it is important for the right
choice to be made, because of the impact on safety.
Aim
This white paper compares the real beam and synthetic aperture
techniques for slope stability radars and their impact on performance for
safety-critical decisions. The summary of these differences is contained
in Table 1.
Introduction
All the commercial available slope-monitoring radars in service measure
the slight ground or rock-face movements which are the pre-cursors to a
landslide or rock-face fall. These movements are measured in mm or cm
over a period of time hours or days, and certain characteristics of the
movement time-history give a reliable warning of an impending failure.
Typically a warning algorithm will give an alert or warning if the
displacement, velocity, or acceleration exceeds pre-set values anywhere
on the rock face. The level of these thresholds will typically be set by a
geotechnical engineer based on knowledge of the local geological
structures. The radar suppliers geotechnical engineers may help by
calling on their specialist understanding of the equipment capabilities
and their database of previous rock-wall failures.
Table 1. Summarizing the differences

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contrast to the synthetic aperture radar described later). A narrow
conical beam is formed in space, of angular beam-width related to the
size of the dish, which performs a raster scan over the surface to be
monitored.
The data collected with a real-bream radar is three dimensional,
representing the signal strength and phase angle in each elevation,
azimuth, and range cell. Repeated scans allow the change in phase at
each position to be measured and converted to the displacement in
range from the initial position.
The time history of movement can then be accumulated, and checked by
signal processor for any features indicating a warning. Typically the
degree of displacement is shown in cool to hot colours, with red typically
indicating a critical pre-set value has been reached. An advantage of the
scanning dish radar is the three-dimensional radar profile of the rock
surface can be displayed superimposed with the displacement colours.
Similarly the displacement image can be easily superimposed on a
photographic image. Both of these display formats allow an
interpretation of the movements in relation to any geotechnical
features, such as fault lines and blocks.
The radar conical beam causes the resolving power to be proportional to
range and this typically sets a limit on maximum range for a given
performance. Typically the resolving power might require any wall
movement to be attributed to a particular bench. In this case the
footprint size produced by the radar should be smaller than 10m - 15m,
depending on the mine bench heights in question. The beam cone angle
is set by the size of the antenna aperture measured in wavelengths, and
for a one-meter dish at 3 cm wavelength (10 GHz) this is about 2
degrees. So a requirement for a 10m-15m resolving power limits the
maximum range of radar with these parameters to about 300m-450m.
Increasing the size of the dish or the operating frequency will increase
the maximum range in the same proportion. But limiting factors are that
a large dish presents a wind-loading problem, also higher frequencies
suffer more from propagation anomalies on hot or rainy days. A
frequency in the range 10 15 GHz seems to be the best choice,
allowing a manageable antenna size.
In addressing the dynamic range issue we need to explain the side-lobe
characteristics of the antenna. No antenna is perfect and some of the
transmitter energy spills into other angles, likewise a receiver antenna
will collect some energy from other angles, albeit at low levels. This
Figure 1a. Footprint of a real-beam radar (eg. SSR and MSR), that
provides independent footprint measurements of slope movement.
Figure 1b. Set of footprints of a synthetic aperture radar (eg. IBIS), formed by
synthesized fan beams projected over different ranges (adapted from Ref 3)

Measuring Displacement
These radars all use a technology termed interferometry to make the
fine measurements in range. If a reflector moves closer by half a
wavelength towards the radar the path length there and back is
shortened by a whole wavelength. Path length changes can be measured
from the change in phase of the reflected signal, with 360 degrees
corresponding to 15 mm for the typical radar wavelength of 30mm.
Phase changes of just a few degrees can easily be measured by modern
signal processing technology giving the potential for very accurate range
measurements. In practice external factors limit the accuracy to a
millimeter or so. Such factors include propagation anomalies (analogous
to the shimmer seen on a hot day), the movement of vegetation cover,
and interfering returns from reflectors at other angles. The first two of
these affect both types of radar in a similar way, but the interfering
reflections impact these radars very differently - as discussed later in this
paper.

Another common feature of these radars is they all display the
measured displacements on an image of the rock face, with colour
representing the degree of movement. It is the technology behind the
image formation process which differentiates these radars and their
suitability for particular applications.
Mapping Displacement
Two factors influence the quality of an image and we describe here the
particular implications of these on the displacement images produced by
slope-monitoring radars. These factors are resolution and dynamic range
(also known as definition and contrast ratio). Resolution is about the
finest spatial detail which can be represented. Dynamic range is about
the ratio of the strongest and weakest signals in the scene which can be
captured without the strong signal spilling across the scene to cause
artifacts (measurement errors in our case) in other parts of the scene.
With radar these two characteristics are determined by the shape of the
beam. Resolving power is set by the size of the main-beam footprint as
presented on the rock face. Dynamic range is set by the pattern of
radiation falling outside the main beam footprint, the so-called side-lobe
pattern.
Mapping the Displacement with a Real-Beam Radar
The most robust method of imaging rock face movement is with a
mechanically scanned radar dish, sometimes called real-beam radar (in


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plot of sensitivity as a function of angle off the main beam. Two
important measures are captured by the directional pattern: the peak
side-lobe to main beam ratio and the integrated side-lobe ratio (ISLR).
The peak side-lobe ratio is important. If a side-lobe peak scans across a
large reflector, say from a mining machine, it will add to the signal from
the main beam and corrupt the phase measurement made at the angle
of the main beam. Allowable breakthrough must be very small, typically
20 dB lower, depending on the accuracy specification. Fortunately for
real-beam radars the side-lobes are controlled on both transmission and
on reception so the overall side-lobe level is easy to control. For instance
it is relatively easy to produce an antenna with a one way pattern having
peak side-lobes 20 dB lower than the main beam, so that for a two way
radar pattern the side-lobes would be 40 dB down. The Synthetic
Aperture Radar described in the next section does not have this
advantage.
The integrated side-lobe ratio (ISLR) is important because the sum of
signals from all angles must be much lower than the signal in the main
beam footprint for an accurate phase measurement. A typical one-way
antenna pattern may well have an ISLR of only -15 dB, but the two-way
pattern of a real beam radar doubles this to -30 dB. Hence for example,
if the reflectivity across the whole scene is on average about the same as
the reflectivity in the main beam, then the interfering sum will be 30 dB
down if the ISLR is -30dB which is acceptable. Again, the Synthetic
Aperture Radar described in the next section does not have this
advantage.
Mapping the Displacement with a Synthetic Aperture
Radar
This type of radar does not form a narrow transmitter beam like the
real-beam radar described earlier. Rather it transmits and receives with
a wide beam pattern as the antenna traverses a horizontal rail placed
side-on to the scene. All the beams are then formed (synthesized) by
processing the data set after completing the transition. This technique
forms a set of fan beams which have a narrow pattern in azimuth and a
broad pattern in elevation, see Figure 1b. An important advantage of
this technique is that the horizontal rail can span a much wider
horizontal aperture than is practical with a dish antenna of the same
diameter - especially in windy locations. The implication of this is that
the horizontal resolving power can be adjusted to suit long-range
operation just by using a longer rail.

However a problem arises because the vertical fan beam gives no
information about the elevation angle of any returned signals. So the
radar relies on range resolution to help separate returns from different
elevations. If a digital terrain model is available these ranges can then be
projected into elevation for display purposes. Alternatively a uniform
slope can be assumed but this distorts the image where it does not fit
the assumption. A consequence is that the size of the 2D patch
illuminated by the pulse length is dependent on the slope of the ground.
Hence, a problem arises with this process if the slope being viewed has
regions which are steep with respect to the line of sight. In this case a

single range cell can span a larger elevation region, so returns from a
displacement occurring over a small region may be swamped by signal
from the rest of the stationary region. This would under report the extent
of the threat.
The fact that vertical resolution is variable and dependent on the slope
indicates the accuracy of measured displacements may not correspond
well to the actual displacements. Hence this type of slope monitoring radar
is not such a precision instrument compared with real-beam radar.
Another problem with Synthetic Aperture Radar is they have a limited
dynamic range. This is because the transmitter pattern is very broad, and
the directional pattern is synthesized on reception, the overall directional
pattern is in effect a one-way pattern. For this the peak side-lobe ratio and
integrated side-lobe ratio are much higher than the two-way pattern of the
real beam radar.
As a consequence THE SAR system needs a process to decide if the signal
received is from the main beam is corrupted by signals from side-lobes.
This is conventionally achieved with a side-lobe cancellation process which
compares the main beam signal with the signal from a wide beam. If the
wide beam antenna receives strong signals indicating these can add into
the main beam sufficiently to affect the phase measurement then the main
beam signal is blanked out. For this reason a SAR slope monitoring radar is
only able to image strong signal returns and show blank regions where the
main beam returns are corrupted. For this reason images produced by
these radars typically contain blank regions.
Conclusions
A real-beam slope monitoring radar offers a more precise instrument for
monitoring the rock wall movements which are the pre-cursor to a fall. It
provides full coverage of the slope and independent measurements in
horizontal and vertical dimensions.
A synthetic aperture radar gives scope for high azimuthal resolution at long
range, but vertical resolution depends on converting range information
into elevation using a digital terrain model. This radar also suffers from
higher side-lobes in the beam pattern which can introduce artifacts to
lower reflectivity parts of the scene; hence these parts are normally
blanked out, causing an incomplete cover.
To conclude the real beam radar is perhaps the best choice for open cut
mines and the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) may be better for long range
monitoring of landside threats where the ground profile is shallow and
offering a suitable view of the slope. However the SAR approach would
not be the best choice for very steep slopes relative to the line-of-sight.
References
1) Skolnik, M. I.: Radar handbook, McGraw Hill Publishing Company, 1991
2) Barton, K. D. and S. A. Leonov: Radar Technology handbook, Artech
House, Boston, 1997
3) McHugh E. L., Long D. G., and C. Sabine., Applications of Ground-based
Radar to Mine Slope Monitoring, ASPRS Annual Conference Proceedings,
May 2004, Denver, Colorado

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