
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a diagnostic tool well assessed in a variety of areas, including geophysics, archaeological prospection, civil engineering, and planetary exploration, just to mention a few examples.
Notwithstanding the simplicity of the underlying principles, a significant limitation of GPR relates to the interpretability of the raw data, presented under the form of radargrams, particularly in challenging scenarios.
To enhance the interpretability of the raw data, it is necessary to reliably model the electromagnetic scattering, so that the radar imaging is conceptualised as an inverse scattering problem. For such an inverse problem, the geometric and electromagnetic properties of the targets are retrieved by the field scattered by the target when an incident field impinges on it. Despite the simplicity of the underlying principles, this inverse problem is inherently complex due to its non-linear nature and ill posedness.
In this webinar, Dr Francesco Soldovieri will present the microwave tomography, based on linear models of the electromagnetic scattering, under a unified mathematical framework able to account for arbitrary measurement configurations and background scenarios. Furthermore, the investigation of the reconstruction performance of the microwave tomography for different measurement configurations and background scenarios will be presented. Finally, several application cases will be shown.
Date: 26 February 2025
Time: 2 pm CET | 1 pm GMT | 8 am EST
Webinar ID: 837 9354 9945
Webinar Secretariat: journal.webinar@mdpi.com



The webinar was hosted via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found below. In order to learn about future webinars, you can sign up to our newsletter by clicking "Subscribe" at the top of the page.
On Wednesday, 26 February 2025, MDPI and NDT organised a webinar titled "GPR Imaging as an Inverse Problem: What Is the Real Added Value?". The fourth webinar in the NDT series featured Dr. Francesco Soldovieri from the Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment (IREA), National Research Council of Italy (CNR) as the speaker. The session was chaired by Professor Fabio Tosti from the Faringdon Research Centre, University of West London, UK. Dr. Soldovieri delivered a comprehensive presentation on microwave tomography, focusing on linear models of electromagnetic scattering within a unified mathematical framework. His talk demonstrated how this framework can accommodate arbitrary measurement configurations and background scenarios. He also examined the reconstruction performance of microwave tomography under various conditions and showcased multiple application cases.
The webinar addressed the inherent challenges of GPR imaging as an inverse problem, particularly its non-linear nature and ill-posedness, offering valuable insights into potential solutions and advancements in the field. The event was well attended, allowing several technical questions from the audience.