Analysis and Application of Ground

Penetrating Radar Signal in Detecting

Karst Fissure Water in Tunnel
Construction
Ningyu Zhao*
State Key Laboratory of Mountain Bridge and Tunnel Engineering, Chongqing
400074, China;
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing Jiaotong University,
Chongqing 400074, Chin
*Corresponding Author; e-mail:zny2008@163.com

Yuchao Xia
International College, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074,
China; Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in
Mountain Area, Chongqing 400045, China; e-mail:34280010@qq.com

Yi Liu
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Chongqing Jiaotong University,
Chongqing 400074, China; e-mail: 5718465@qq.com

ABSTRACT
Karst fissure water is a hidden hazard that can induce geological disasters such as water and mud
bursting and collapse in tunnel construction in karst area. This paper analyzes the development law
of karst fissure water from the perspective of karst geological law; studies the reflection
characteristics of GPR electromagnetic signal on karst fissure water, and the water content
estimation method based on the relationship between radar signal and permittivity. Through the
analysis of specific engineering application, it is shown that ground penetrating radar can better
identify the fissure water buried in rock and fractured rock environment; It verifies the validity of
signal analysis method based on the understanding of geological law in detecting the adverse
geology with karst fissure water, and the water content estimation method.
KEYWORDS: Karst fissure water; Ground penetrating radar (GPR); geological forecast,
water content

INTRODUCTION
Adverse geological problems which are frequently encountered in the tunnel construction of
karst area are often caused by varying degrees of karst problems. Due to the complexity of
geological conditions, it is difficult to accurately identify the nature of the adverse geological body,
in the survey and design stage, especially in the case of deep buried tunnels. In adverse karst

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 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1364

geology, karst fissure water is an important source of risk for construction. In the current situation
where the number of three-lane section tunnels is increasing, water and mud bursting, collapse and
other engineering accidents caused by karst water seriously affect the construction safety and
driving speed 1-3. In recent years, TSP, ground penetrating radar (GPR), transient electromagnetic
method (TEM), Land-sonar, infrared detection and other technologies have been widely used in
tunnel construction for advanced geological forecast, and rich experience has been accumulated.
However, the probability of prediction failure is still quite high, especially the prediction of karst
fissure water content 4. Karst water inrush prediction is a problem that still needs to be solved for
tunnel construction projects; the overall level of technology cannot meet the requirements for tunnel
construction safety control. Compared with geophysical prospecting methods of Tunnel Geological
Prediction, such as TSP, TRT and Land Sonar Method, ground penetrating radar is the main
method for short distance water detection in tunnel geological prediction. Because karst fissure
water is usually buried in bedrock with low water content, electromagnetic wave has fast
propagation velocity in the bedrock, ground penetrating radar has high resolution, and fractured
rock aquifer has high heterogeneity in hydrological characteristics, therefore, ground penetrating
radar has higher resolution than other geophysical detection methods in karst fissure water
environment.
Currently, ground penetrating radar technology is adopted for karst fissure water prediction; in
terms of radar signal interpretation and water content estimation, it still lacks of accurate and
effective forecasting methods for karst geological law analysis. Therefore, it is of great theoretical
and practical value to develop high-precision prediction technology for the detection of karst fissure
water in karst area with rich water and water content estimation.

GEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT FEATURES OF KARST

FISSURE WATER
Karst fissure water refers to the groundwater in soluble rock fractures, it includes bedrock
fracture water in broad sense 5. In karst areas, groundwater type has corresponding correlation with
rock type and gap type. Soluble rock (or aggregated rock containing solute components) often has
cracks or voids, it may develop into a good storage structure and water channel under karstification,
and form different developmental forms under certain recharge and discharge conditions 6.
(1) Fold and fracture structure plays a major control role in the development of karst fissure
water 7-8. Usually fold and fracture structure produce has well-developed fissures, and form
intensive belt of erosion cracks; small karst channels are often formed in the intersection of joint
fissures, and become the main storage space and migration pathway of underground water; the
water storage capacity of karst aquifer is closely related to the development degree of karst fissures,
karst aquifer often has abundant water.
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1365

(2) Rock composition has an important influence on karst fissure water and karst development.
The joint fissure of rock with high plasticity and high mud content has low degree of development,
it is not conducive to the development of karst, and the poor permeability often becomes good
impermeable layer; rock with complex ingredients often has more hiatuses, and the joint fissure is
developed, this is conducive to the formation of karst aquifer with even erosion. The tectonic
fissure of thick pure limestone is wide and long sparse shape, it is conducive to the formation of
large karst cave.
(3) Karst fissure of late modern karst has uneven water distribution; it has great impact on the
safety of tunnel construction. In post karst development, it mainly presents crack-like appearance,
when they are connected together, they are bead-like, and form relatively large corrosion cracks.
The differences in the width, size and connection degree of karst fissures result in different current
velocity of karst fissure water and uneven distribution flow state, thus strengthening the
directionality of fractured space and permeable anisotropy, resulting in uneven distribution of karst
fissure water.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GPR SIGNAL OF KARST

FISSURE WATER

Reflection Characteristics of GPR Signal on Water

In the assumed evenly distributed, linear low-loss media, the wave equation for electromagnetic
wave arising from Maxwell's equation can be written as 9-12:

∂E ∂2 E
∇ × ∇ × E + µσ ⋅ + µε ⋅ 2 = 0 （1）
∂t ∂t

The second item in Formula (1) is the energy dissipation, the third item is energy storage. In the
low-loss media, the energy dissipation is often smaller than the energy storage, ground penetrating
radar can make effective detection.
Solving Formula (1), the electric field expression of electromagnetic wave in unbounded
homogeneous lossy media is:

E (r ) = E0 e − jKr （2）

In Formula (2): E0 is the electric field intensity at the field source; r is spatial coordinate.

K= β − jα , in which α is the attenuation coefficient, β is the phase constant. In the application

 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1366

of ground penetrating radar, the permittivity ( ε ) and conductivity ( σ ) of medium in space can be
transformed from vector form to simple scalar which is independent from the, the attenuation
coefficient has the following expression:

1/2
1   
σ 
2

=α ω µε   1 +   − 1  （3）
 2  ω  


For groundwater with great conductivity, σ / (ωε ) >> 1 can be assumed, Formula (3) can be

simplified into Formula 5:

σωµ
α≈ （4）
2

In above formulas, the change of magnetic permeability ( µ ) in media can generally be set as
1, the angular frequency ( ω ) is related to radar antenna. It can be seen from above formula that the
high-frequency component of electromagnetic wave has large attenuation coefficient when it travels
through water. Meanwhile, according to the research of Arkhipow et al. 10, the real part of
permittivity of water can be written as:

εs − ε∞
ε ε∞ +
= （5）
1 + ω 2t 2

Wherein the relaxation time of water at room temperature t is about 8.28 × 10-12 s, static

relative permittivity ε s =81, the high-frequency relative permittivity ε ∞ = 5.6, it can be seen that

the significant loss of electromagnetic waves in the water is produced in the high frequency band.
As can be seen from Formula (4) and (5), it is appropriate to use low-frequency antenna (center
frequency) for the detection in water with large conductivity.
Geological radar signal attenuation problem can be described by the expression of wave
impedance:

µ
Z= （6）
ε

Because magnetic permeability ( µ ) changes slightly in the medium, the wave impedance is
primarily determined by the relative permittivity. Meanwhile, the power reflection coefficient R
can be expressed as:

R = ( Ei / Er ) 2 （7）
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1367

wherein, the incident wave electric field ( Ei ) and the reflected wave electric field ( Er )have the

following relationship:

Ei / Er =−
( Z 2 Z1 ) / ( Z1 + Z 2 ) （8）

As for high resistance medium, if the medium with permittivity of ε1 performs vertical

incidence into the medium with permittivity of ε 2 , then:

( ε1 − ε 2 ) / ( ε1 + ε 2 )
R= （9）

At room temperature, the relative permittivity of media in soluble rocks (limestone, dolomite,
etc.) is between 4 to 15, and relative permittivity of aqueous medium is about 81, therefore, radar
reflected signal has strong reflection on the interface between wet limestone and water, and there is
a difference of 180 o between the reflection wave phase and incident wave phase of radar wave on
aquifer interface.

Water Content Estimation Principle Based on Ground

Penetrating Radar Signal

The propagation velocity of electromagnetic wave in medium is mainly determined by the
permittivity of stratum. The computational expression for permittivity and wave velocity is:

c
υ( f ) = （10）
1 + 1 + tan δ 2
ε '( f ) µ
1
wherein the loss factor:

σ dc
ε ''( f ) +
2π f ε 0
tan d = （11）
ε '( f )

wherein: the propagation velocity of electromagnetic wave in air is 3 × 108m/s; f is the

electromagnetic wave frequency; ε '( f ) and ε ''( f ) are the real and imaginary part of the
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1368

permittivity ε=
( f ) ε '( f ) − jε ''( f ) respectively; u is relative permeability, it can be set as 1; σ dc

is DC conductivity; ε 0 is the permittivity in air 8.854 × 10-12F/m.

Because the permittivity is seriously affected by the frequency characteristics of the medium
that electromagnetic waves travel through. As for pure polarization medium (water), the
permittivity expression of polarized Debye derived by eliminating medium frequency
characteristics is 13:

ees
s − ∞ j dc
ee
(f)=
∞ + − （12）
) 2π f e 0
f
1 + (i
f rel

Relaxation frequency f rel is the medium frequency when permittivity is taken as

ε s + ε ∞ , liquid water
2
is a typical polarized medium. Under normal temperature conditions, parameters in Debye equation ε s =81，
ε ∞ =5.6， f rel =17.1GHz. When above conditions are substituted into Formula (12), the permittivity can be
divided into a real part and an imaginary part, as shown in Fig.1.

Imaginary part
Real part

Frequency（MHz）

Figure 1: The real part(solid line) and imaginary part(dashed line) of the permittivity
determined by Debye model（ ε s =81， ε ∞ =5.6， f rel =17.1GHz）

As can be seen from the figure, the real part and imaginary part tend to be a constant and zero
when the frequency is very low or high. In the forecasting work of tunnel construction, the
frequency of antenna is generally small (between 20MHz ~ 200MHz), the imaginary part of relative
permittivity tends to be 0, the real part tends to be 20. Therefore, Formula (10) can be simplified as:
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1369

c
υ= （13）
ε'
15-20
Through a large number of previous model experiments and field tests , medium water
content and permittivity have the following empirical relationship:

θ=
−0.053 + 0.0292ε − 5.5 ×10−4 ε 2 + 4.3 ×10−6 ε 3 （14）

Besides, according to the characteristics of electromagnetic wave transmission and reflection in

the medium, its wave velocity in the medium can be expressed as:

2 x2 + d 2
υ= （15）
t

Wherein, x is the horizontal distance between anomalous body and antenna, d is the buried
depth of anomalous body, t is the travel time of electromagnetic wave in the media, when the
antenna is located just above the anomalous body, the expression can be simplified as:
2d
υ= （16）
t
As for the most widely applied ground penetrating radar signal analysis software, υ can be obtained
from the analysis of test signals, after substituting it into Formula (13), the relative permittivity of anomaly
body can be obtained. According to Formula (14), the water content of body can be estimated, and then the
water amount of front aquifer can be estimated.

ENGINEERING APPLICATION

Brief Introduction to the Project

Chengdu-Chongqing Expressway Yunwushan Tunnel is 3355 m long, it runs through the Libi
Gorge anticline of Yangzi quasi platform, Xianzheshu of Chongqing, with three fractures running
through the tunnel trunk. The geomorphic unit belongs to middle-low mountain with significant
tectonic denudation and corrosion, and has characteristics of new generation karst landform. The
regional average annual precipitation is 1000mm ~ 1200mm, atmospheric precipitation supplies
groundwater through fracture structure and fissures. Where the tunnel working face gets close to the
double monastery fracture(F5), the joint fissure of rock gradually gets intensive, tunnel working
face has serious water seepage, corrosion gradually becomes intense; at ZK20 + 350 position,
antenna with center frequency of 40MHz is used to carry out ground penetrating radar detection.
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1370

Identification of Adverse Geological Body

Figure 2 shows the profile map of a radar signal after basic signal analysis and processing
(solving concussion time zero point correction filtering wave time gain two-dimensional
imaging). In Figure 2 (a), the delineation position is shown in the dark area of the colorful image,
indicating that the reflected wave has strong energy at the point, other light-colored positions have
normal signal reflection; Figure 2 (b) shows the reflection wave of anomalous regions, it can be
seen that the radar signals of the two anomalous regions in FIG. 2 (a) present strong reflection on
the interface of different media respectively. Meanwhile, the reflection wave phase of the two
places flips 180o.

Reflection wave flips

(a) Measurement made with a 40MHz antenna at the (b) Reflection Wave in anomalous region
research station Radar Signal Profile (blue line in the left picture)

Figure 2: Section map and reflected wave in anomalous region

Figure 3 shows the frequency diagram of certain reflected signal of certain position in Figure 2
(b), it can be seen from the figure at the basic frequency of the anomalous region is about 20MHz,
the antenna frequency of other rock stratums is close to about 43MHz. It can be seen that main
frequency of anomalous regions reduces significantly, the high-frequency component of
electromagnetic wave has significant loss.
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1371

Figure 3: Radar signal frequency spectrogram of anomalous region

Based on the tunnel working face geological law of development and the analysis of geological
investigation and design data accumulated in the process of tunnel excavation, it can be concluded
that the overall tunnel karst is at the new generation of karst development, the mileage tunnel
working face is under the influence of double monastery fracture (F5), and the area has well-
developed karst. Combining the 2 dimensional profile of radar signal color 2, and the characteristics
of amplitude, phase, frequency variation of single-channel reflected wave reflected of poor body
position, it is inferred that the area which is 8 meter or 13 meter in front of tunnel working face is a
major karst aquifer structure, there is a karst fissure (dissolved fracture) water channel with rich
water content in the delineated red location.

Water Content Estimation

In order to estimate the water content of stratum in front of tunnel working face of the mileage,
according to the travel time of 40MHz radar antenna signal in detection range and the thickness of
the adverse geological body specified in the profile, the stratum wave velocity of the two cross-
section points shown in Figure 4 are calculated, formula (14) is adopted to estimate the changes in
the water content of the front stratum of tunnel working face. In this paper, the calculation
procedures of engineering case: ① Divide the 30m detection range into 15 parts by 2m, take the
test system and read the average wave velocity; ② put the average velocity of each segment into
formula (13), among which, c is set as 3 × 105km/s, the real part ε ' of relative permittivity of
segment can be calculated; ③ because the basic frequency of antenna is small, ε = ε ' , ε ' is
substituted into the formula (14), the average water content of each segment can be obtained.
According to the estimation results of Line 1, through comprehensive analysis of the characteristics
of radar wave reflected signal and geological data, the water content of stratum in front of tunnel
working face is up to 65%, the average water content of Line 2 is about 4% to 10%, this is
consistent with the inferred karst fissure water.
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1372

Figure 4: Water content estimation based on permittivity from 40 MHz antenna

Verified by excavation, in cross-section imaging delineated figure karst fissure water

development in the region jointed rock mass are more developed. About 8m, Figure 4, a line profile
in ground penetrating radar test mileage front tunnel working face (working face to the right, away
from the centerline of about 3m) at a major presence dissolved seam karst water channel (Fig. 5
(b)), and karst initial two gushing about 139L / min; profiles two lines near the rock with a small
amount of water seeping cracks, as shown in 5 (a) below. Verify the results of a comprehensive
analysis of inference, the tunnel construction has played a guiding role.
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1373

Dissolved seam karst

water channel

(a) Profile 1 position (b) Profile 2 position

Figure 5: Exposed tunnel face karst erosion development and fissure

water soluble seam after excavation

CONCLUSIONS
(1) The complexity of karst tunnel geology intensifies the multi solution problem of ground
penetrating radar signal. Under the premise of fully understanding the geological development law
of detection target, and establishing correct understanding of the relationship between stratum and
detection target, the accurate analysis of the reflection characteristics of GPR signal on different
adverse geological bodies plays an important role in improving the accuracy of karst fissure aquifer
prediction.
(2) It is feasible to adopt the karst fissure water estimation method based on the relationship
between permittivity and experience about water content of stratum for geological prediction, and it
can meet the accuracy requirements for construction risk in tunnel construction. Inaccurate
estimation of aquifer space size in the profile is the main source of error in water content
estimation.
(3) The groundwater of new generation karst areas is generally developed, the water content of
aquifer is closed associated with the development of surrounding rock fissures. Water-filled
fractures are usually buried in rocks with small water content. The results of karst fissure water
detection can be used as the basis for further evaluation of surrounding rock integrity.
 Vol. 20 [2015], Bund. 6 1374

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors are grateful to the National Natural Science Foundation of China（Project
No:51078373）and the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing City（Project No:
cstc2013jcyjA30019） for the financial support for this research project.

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