Evaluation of bathymetric radargrams for determination of the dam volume employing the “fclass2” classifier.

This study aims to evaluate the performance of the GPR (Ground Penetrating RADAR) for bathymetric applications and the development of a classifier for radargrams analysis. The study was conducted in a dam, located on the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), where we conducted, previously, a bathymetric survey using single beam echo sounder. Digital Elevation Models (DEM) were generated employing three different interpolations using echo sounder and GPR observations. These DEMs were compared in pairs, for each interpolator, applying the paired t test. Comparisons were performed based in the volumes generated from these DEMs. The results for the t test for the three DEMs revealed no statistical differences, at 5% significance level, between models generated from the echo sounder and GPR. The biggest volumetric difference found was 98 m³ in 75000 m³, for Griddata function with interpolator v4. Considering all DEMs, the biggest difference between volumes was 2%, about 1900m³. We verified that the GPR, using 100MHz antenna, can be employed in bathymetric surveys dams of up to 4.5m and the classifier fclass2 provided a good separation between water and sediments layers.

Keywords:
GPR; Dam; Volume; classification; free software