Experimental GPR Water Leakage Detection Using Modified Vivaldi Antennas

This paper presents an experimental study on subsurface water leakage detection using a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) system with modified Vivaldi antennas. The antennas are optimized by introducing extended circular edge slots to enhance gain and radiation characteristics at the low end of the bandwidth. Compared to a basic Vivaldi antenna of the same size, the optimized design achieves a 2.5 dBi gain improvement in the mid-band and a 56 MHz extension in low end of the bandwidth. Controlled experiments involving a buried metal rod and a plastic pipe alongside a leak source, simulates a real leakage scenario. Analysis of measurement results including B-scans reveal diffused scattering and distortion in the peak hyperbola signatures, corresponding to water presence. Thus, water leakage at a 15 cm depth is successfully detected with good spatial resolution. These results demonstrate the potential of the modified Vivaldi-based GPR system as a non-invasive, cost-effective tool for early water leakage detection in infrastructure and environmental monitoring applications.