Waveform Analysis of Super-Resolved WISDOM/ExoMars GPR Data Acquired in Svalbard, a Terrestrial Analogue of Mars
Abstract
The analysis of the waveform of reflection in ground penetrating radar (GPR) data is widely used to determine the nature of interfaces in the subsurface. It is of the utmost importance that the water ice subsurface deposits observation on Mars (WISDOM) GPR onboard Rosalind Franklin rover be able to determine the nature of the interfaces, which can provide information on the density, porosity, and, therefore, the composition of the subsurface layers, and avoid hazards that may damage the drill onboard the ExoMars rover. This article presents validations using numerical simulation and measures in a controlled environment of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the received radar waveforms after application of a super-resolution technique for WISDOM [the bandwidth extrapolation (BWE) technique] to improve identification of the nature of interfaces in the subsurface. The qualitative analysis consists in visual comparison of the reflection waveforms to a reference reflection waveform, allowing a quick but human biased review of different reflections in radargrams. The quantitative analysis is the automatic measurement of the phase value of received radar waveforms to classify it into four meaningful phase values corresponding to four different types of interface: high permittivity material overlying a low permittivity material and vice versa, and thin layer of higher or lower permittivity than the embedding material. The thin bed that can be characterized by WISDOM is 1–4 cm thick in standard data and 0.5–2 cm thick in BWE data. The BWE greatly improves qualitative and quantitative analysis by making the waveform of reflections easier to identify, along with an increased contrast and improved range resolution in radargrams. The quantitative analysis of BWE data is highly effective and reliable on realistic Lunar or Martian rough surface and buried interface, and not strongly affected by volume scattering under heterogeneous conditions. In high loss dispersive media (highest estimated loss for Martian analogue materials), the range of application of the method can be restricted to the first meter in the subsurface. In the case of moderate or low loss (representative of Lunar regolith or Martian analogue materials), this range extend beyond the 2 m deep drilling capacity of the ExoMars rover. The method is also tested on data acquired during a field test campaign in Svalbard (Arctic Norway), and provide useful interpretations of radar reflections on an ice cave and on an icing in a frozen riverbed.
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BibTeX
@article{brighi2026waveform,
title = {{Waveform Analysis of Super-Resolved WISDOM/ExoMars GPR Data Acquired in Svalbard, a Terrestrial Analogue of Mars}},
author = {Emile Brighi and Valérie Ciarletti and Alice Le Gall and Nicolas Oudart and Wolf-Stefan Benedix and Esther Mas I Sanz and Aleksey Shestov and Dirk Plettemeier and Yann Hervé},
journal = {IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1109/jstars.2026.3739489},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05844237v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Waveform Analysis of Super-Resolved WISDOM/ExoMars GPR Data Acquired in Svalbard, a Terrestrial Analogue of Mars
AU - Emile Brighi
AU - Valérie Ciarletti
AU - Alice Le Gall
AU - Nicolas Oudart
AU - Wolf-Stefan Benedix
AU - Esther Mas I Sanz
AU - Aleksey Shestov
AU - Dirk Plettemeier
AU - Yann Hervé
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
DO - 10.1109/jstars.2026.3739489
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05844237v1
AB - The analysis of the waveform of reflection in ground penetrating radar (GPR) data is widely used to determine the nature of interfaces in the subsurface. It is of the utmost importance that the water ice subsurface deposits observation on Mars (WISDOM) GPR onboard Rosalind Franklin rover be able to determine the nature of the interfaces, which can provide information on the density, porosity, and, therefore, the composition of the subsurface layers, and avoid hazards that may damage the drill onboard the ExoMars rover. This article presents validations using numerical simulation and measures in a controlled environment of qualitative and quantitative analysis of the received radar waveforms after application of a super-resolution technique for WISDOM [the bandwidth extrapolation (BWE) technique] to improve identification of the nature of interfaces in the subsurface. The qualitative analysis consists in visual comparison of the reflection waveforms to a reference reflection waveform, allowing a quick but human biased review of different reflections in radargrams. The quantitative analysis is the automatic measurement of the phase value of received radar waveforms to classify it into four meaningful phase values corresponding to four different types of interface: high permittivity material overlying a low permittivity material and vice versa, and thin layer of higher or lower permittivity than the embedding material. The thin bed that can be characterized by WISDOM is 1–4 cm thick in standard data and 0.5–2 cm thick in BWE data. The BWE greatly improves qualitative and quantitative analysis by making the waveform of reflections easier to identify, along with an increased contrast and improved range resolution in radargrams. The quantitative analysis of BWE data is highly effective and reliable on realistic Lunar or Martian rough surface and buried interface, and not strongly affected by volume scattering under heterogeneous conditions. In high loss dispersive media (highest estimated loss for Martian analogue materials), the range of application of the method can be restricted to the first meter in the subsurface. In the case of moderate or low loss (representative of Lunar regolith or Martian analogue materials), this range extend beyond the 2 m deep drilling capacity of the ExoMars rover. The method is also tested on data acquired during a field test campaign in Svalbard (Arctic Norway), and provide useful interpretations of radar reflections on an ice cave and on an icing in a frozen riverbed.
SN - 1939-1404
ER -