Anisotropic Reverse-Time Migration of Ground-Penetrating Radar Data Collected on the Sand Dunes in the Badain Jaran Desert

Advanced imaging of sand dune interiors in the Badain Jaran Desert reveals previously obscured calcareous cementation layers and water tables with unprecedented clarity. The study introduces an anisotropic reverse-time migration (RTM) algorithm using curvilinear coordinates, which mitigates numerical scattering from rugged topography and accounts for electromagnetic anisotropy in sand dunes. This method outperforms traditional approaches like Kirchhoff migration, producing more coherent and high-resolution subsurface images. Synthetic modeling validated the technique's effectiveness, demonstrating its potential to improve GPR data interpretation in complex desert environments.

Lu, X., Song, A., Qian, R., & Liu, L. (2018). Anisotropic Reverse-Time Migration of Ground-Penetrating Radar Data Collected on the Sand Dunes in the Badain Jaran Desert. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 11(2), 647–654. https://doi.org/10.1109/jstars.2017.2787671