Antenna's Performance in Microwave Imaging of Stratified Media

Numerous types of antennas have been employed for microwave imaging of stratified media for ground penetrating radar (GPR), through-the-wall-radar imaging (TWRI), etc. This letter aims to investigate the impact of the different antennas with their characteristics on the image reconstruction of those media. Hence, three types of antennas, including horn antennas, open waveguide and Vivaldi antennas, are chosen as almost directional antennas, operating at X-band 8-12 GHz. The antenna's far-field and near-field characteristics are analyzed. A diffraction tomography (DT)-based algorithm is used to reconstruct the target location within the stratified media using monostatic and multistatic data. It is observed that the more directional antennas provide a better-reconstructed image with less shadowing image of the stratified media.