Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 1999.

271292

2-D and 3-D processing and interpretation of multi-fold ground

penetrating radar data: a case history from an archaeological site
M. Pipan ) , L. Baradello 1, E. Forte 1, A. Prizzon 1, I. Finetti

Dipartimento di Scienze Geologiche, Ambientali e Marine, Uniersita` degli Studi di Trieste, ia Weiss 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy
Received 29 October 1997; accepted 1 November 1998

Abstract
A 2.5-D and 3-D multi-fold GPR survey was carried out in the Archaeological Park of Aquileia northern Italy.. The
primary objective of the study was the identification of targets of potential archaeological interest in an area designated by
local archaeological authorities. The second geophysical objective was to test 2-D and 3-D multi-fold methods and to study
localised targets of unknown shape and dimensions in hostile soil conditions. Several portions of the acquisition grid were
processed in common offset CO., common shot CSG. and common mid point CMP. geometry. An 8 = 8 m area was
studied with orthogonal CMPs thus achieving a 3-D subsurface coverage with azimuthal range limited to two normal
components. Coherent noise components were identified in the pre-stack domain and removed by means of FK filtering of
CMP records. Stack velocities were obtained from conventional velocity analysis and azimuthal velocity analysis of 3-D
pre-stack gathers. Two major discontinuities were identified in the area of study. The deeper one most probably coincides
with the paleosol at the base of the layer associated with activities of man in the area in the last 2500 years. This
interpretation is in agreement with the results obtained from nearby cores and excavations. The shallow discontinuity is
observed in a part of the investigated area and it shows local interruptions with a linear distribution on the grid. Such
interruptions may correspond to buried targets of archaeological interest. The prominent enhancement of the subsurface
images obtained by means of multi-fold techniques, compared with the relatively poor quality of the conventional single-fold
georadar sections, indicates that multi-fold methods are well suited for the application to high resolution studies in
archaeology. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Ground penetrating radar; Archaeology; Multi-fold; High-resolution

1. Introduction
A 2.5-D and 3-D multi-fold ground penetrating radar GPR. survey was carried out in the

Corresponding author. Fax: q39-40-6762290; E-mail:

pipan@univ.trieste.it
1
Fax: q39-40-6762290; E-mail: pipan@univ.trieste.it.

Archaeological Park of Aquileia. The primary

objective of the study was the identification of
targets of potential archaeological interest in an
area designated by local archaeological authorities and situated in a polygon of approximately
1000 m2 in area, that borders the town cemetery
to the north Fig. 1.. The second geophysical
objective was to test 2-D and 3-D multi-fold
methods in a high resolution study for shallow

0926-9851r99r$ - see front matter q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 6 - 9 8 5 1 9 8 . 0 0 0 4 7 - 0

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M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

Fig. 1. Location map of the site studied in the Aquileia archaeological park.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

targets of limited dimensions buried in chaotic

soils.
The GPR was successfully applied to high
resolution subsurface imaging in the analysis of
targets buried at depths up to 50 centimetres,
as it is typically the case of pavements inspection and unexploded ordnance detection
Hugenschmidt et al., 1996; Bruschini et al.,
1996., to several metres, as in the case of
geological, archaeological, environmental and
engineering applications, with maximum penetration depths confined to approximately 100
metres for geological materials in favourable
conditions Davis and Annan, 1989; Fisher et
al., 1992; Jol et al., 1996. . Recent papers see,
e.g., Fisher et al., 1992; Greaves et al., 1996;
Pipan et al., 1996. illustrate the performance of
multi-fold techniques in the investigation of geological targets and give evidence of the enhancement of the subsurface images produced
by multi-fold data processing algorithms. The
first applications of multi-fold MF. methods to
GPR investigation date back to the early seventies Gudmandsen, 1971. but only in the latest
decade the advances in GPR technology,
namely the advent of low cost, portable, digital
units, and the increasing complexity of exploration targets. boosted interest to these methods.
The increment of signal-to-noise ratio and the
velocity information obtained from multi-offset
prestack records are some of the primary benefits deriving from MF techniques. In particular,
stack and multi-channel pre-stack operators,
such as fk or tau-p filters, allow substantial
noise attenuation, while conventional velocity
analysis methods, such as velocity spectra or
Constant Velocity StackrGather, provide accurate estimates of radar waves propagation velocities. Seismic processing techniques can be applied due to similarities in high-frequency electromagnetic and seismic wave propagation
Ursin, 1983; Carcione and Cavallini, 1995. and
by neglecting the distortion of the radar signal
due to the propagation in a lossy earth. Propagation phenomena of the latter type are well evidenced by simulation experiments see, e.g.,

273

Schoolmeesters and Slob, 1996; Tillard et al.,

1996. but deem to have negligible effects on the
performance of MF techniques in the range of
offset 60 to 200 cm. and soil conditions of the
present study. A proper selection of an offset
range and accurate velocity analyses normally
improve the quality of the subsurface images as
results from experimental work carried out in
largely variable soil conditions see, e.g.,
Greaves et al., 1996. . Several published case
histories that treat MF techniques applied to
GPR focus on the study of strong discontinuities
in the subsurface electrical properties and aim at
the identification of targets which exhibit substantial lateral continuity and smooth shape.
From a geometrical viewpoint, conditions of
this type resemble those most commonly met in
seismic exploration. Hence the straightforward
application of MF seismic techniques to GPR
benefits from a well established data acquisition
and processing technology. On the other hand, a
large number of typical GPR applications, such
as exploration, archaeology, engineering, cavities and buried pipes, require imaging of localised targets with lateral discontinuities and
often of unknown shape and at the limit of
resolution. Rapid variations of the dielectric
properties in the shallow subsurface due to varying composition of soils and water content add
further complexity to the GPR images in such
conditions. An application of MF methods to
this second class of problems appears to be of
academic interest see, e.g., Pipan et al., 1996. .
However, the image enhancement attainable and
the interpretive benefits provided by pre-stack
noise and signal identification encourage the
diffusion of MF methods to tackle more complicated targets.
MF methods were selected in the present
investigation due to the following reasons:
a. Calibrations were not available in the area:
cores and excavations were not performed and
other non-invasive measurements that might
provide complementary information were not
carried out. MF techniques allow to calibrate
and correlate discontinuities based on velocity

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characteristics and wave properties amplitude

and phase. as a function of offset. Moreover,
they allow accurate identification of areal discontinuities and localised targets by means of
integrated interpretation of pre-stack records
Common ShotrCommon Mid Point gathers.,
stack sections and velocity analysis panels.
b. The area to be investigated is most probably covered by allochtonous soils rich in rock
and brick debris as results from several cores in
adjacent areas Facco, 1996. and from direct
inspection. The level of noise observed in the
single-fold exploratory profiles encourages application of MF processing techniques to enhance the quality of subsurface images.
c. The allochtonous layer exhibits variable
composition which ranges from sandy gravel to
sandy pelite. Correlated variations in water content that may affect the propagation velocity and
consequently estimates of target depths are expected. MF methods allow one to perform a
continuous control over the velocity variations.
The results of extensive excavations and previous GPR tests in the Aquileia archaeological
park indicate that the majority of targets are
ruined brick walls of very irregular shape in
vertical section. The selection of a 2.5-D and
3-D acquisition scheme aims at mapping the
detected anomalies for a study of their areal
shape and extension and an assessment of their
potential archaeological interest.
The investigation led to the identification of
two major discontinuities situated at average
depths of 100 and 220 cm respectively. The
deeper one extends throughout the investigated
area and most probably corresponds to the paleosol at the beginning of the intensive colonization of the area approximately 2500 years ago..
The estimated depth to this reflector matches
the base of the layer related to activities of men
in the area of the Aquileia Archaeological Park,
as it is given by cores in nearby positions. A
shallow discontinuity is observed at a limited
part of the investigated area and may be associated to the effects of human activity. Moreover,
it exhibits spatial coherent interruptions with

linear alignment which may be due to excavations or buried remains. The diffraction hyperbolas, which mark the interruptions, and the
coincident high velocity anomalies may indicate
a considerable contrast in the electric properties
and further encourage the latter interpretation.
The MF techniques adopted for the study
proved to be effective to enhance GPR images,
identify and remove coherent noise components,
evaluate radar wave velocities and reduce uncertainties in the interpretation, identification of
potential targets and correlation of interpreted
discontinuities.

2. Area description
Aquileia is one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Italy and it was one of
the largest and richest roman towns during the
imperial period, with a maximum population of
more than 200.000 inhabitants. As a prosperous
harbour at the crossing of several imperial roads
it was for centuries a prominent commercial
centre that connected the central and northern
Europe with the Mediterranean area. Aquileia
was first razed to the ground by Attila in the V
century and successively abandoned for approximately 250 years before the beginning of the
IX century. During this period the whole area
changed into a marsh due to an uncontrolled
water supply from previously canalized streams
and springs. A layer of sediments of variable
grain size from sands to pelites. and average
thickness not less than 100 cm deposited during
this period. The layer is substantially preserved
in wide sectors of the Aquileia archaeological
park as the town never reached the extension of
the imperial period again. However, intense
agricultural and construction activities as well
as large projects, such as a diversion or canalization of part of the main tributaries to the
neighbouring lagoon, deeply modified the area
and extensively reworked the sediment layer
that protects the roman remains.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

The area is characterized by facies of alluvial

plain with large marshy sectors evidenced by
peat clays with fresh water faunas Marocco et
al., 1984.. Two sample cores obtained in a
radius of 500 m from the investigated site show
that the layer of interest from the archaeological

275

point of view approximately 250 cm. consists

of allochtonous soils ranging in grain size from
sandy gravels to sandy pelites Fig. 2. .
The chosen area is situated in a polygon of
approximately 1000 m2 in area, that borders the
town cemetery to the north Fig. 1.. Local

Fig. 2. The sequence of sediments in cores S9r94 and S12r94 after Facco, 1996, modified..

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archaeological authorities have commissioned

the University of Trieste to carry out a high
resolution non-invasive investigation of the area
to assess its potential archaeological interest in
view of future expansion of the cemetery to the
north.

3. Methods

3.1. Acquisition
A RAMAC GPR equipped with 100, 200 and
400 MHz antennas was used. The data acquisition was performed in four phases:
1. Calibration, selection of optimum offsets for
the single fold exploratory profiles, completion of exploratory profiles through the area
on a radial grid with 458 angular separation
for each frequency.
2. Layout of acquisition grid, completion of the
multi-fold 2-D acquisition and of the singlefold profiles perpendicular to the 2.5-D MF
grid.
3. Wide offset range CMP gathers acquisition
40600 cm, 10 cm trace interval. in selected points for enhanced velocity analyses.
4. 3-D MF data acquisition along two perpendicular azimuths in an 8 = 8 m area.
Calibration of the instrument aims at setting
the correct time scale. The difference in arrival
times of signals obtained with two optic fibres
of different length and known propagation velocity is measured. The ratio of the calculated
difference to the measured value gives the time
scale conversion factor. Common Source Gathers are then obtained to analyse the response at
the different offsets and to select the optimum
transmitterreceiver separation for the exploratory profiles and the offset range to be
used in MF acquisition. 160, 120 and 90 cm
were selected for the 100, 200 and 400 MHz
antennas respectively. The results of the ex-

ploratory profiles indicated that 200 MHz represent an optimum compromise between penetration and resolution attainable in the area of
study. The whole grid was therefore investigated with 200 MHz antennas and a limited part
15% approximately. of the profiles were repeated with 400 MHz to obtain further details
from shallow discontinuities. The offset range
for the MF 200 MHz acquisition is 100280 cm
with 20 cm trace interval. The resulting fold is
1000%.
The acquisition grid Fig. 1. consists of 115
NNWSSE multi-fold profiles spaced by 50 cm
and 27 orthogonal single-fold profiles spaced by
100 cm. The spatial sampling is 10 cm, vertical
stack 3200% and sampling frequency 1997 MHz
for the 200 MHz antennas.
The 8 = 8 m 3-D grid Fig. 1. is orientated as
the 2.5-D one and it is regularly sampled every
20 cm in x and y. The CMP gathers are
recorded in static fixed position mode to ensure
accurate location and to avoid variable coupling
of the antennas to the ground. At each grid
point location, two orthogonal CMP gathers are
obtained which correspond to a 3-D coverage
limited to two azimuths. The resulting bin size
is infinitesimal as the bins coincide with the mid
point locations in x and y.
3.2. Processing
The general processing sequences consists of
the following procedures:
1. DC component removal
2. Drift removal
3. Spectral analysis
4. Low cut filtering
5. Decay analysis
6. Spherical divergence correction
7. Exponential gain correction
8. Trace editing
9. Sort
10. Spectral balance
11. FK filtering of refracted waves, backscattered refracted waves and multiples

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12. Velocity analysis separate velocity analyses for the two perpendicular azimuths in
the 3-D.
13. NMO correction
14. Offset range selection for the stack
15. Weighted stack
16. Time variant filtering.

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Velocity analyses were performed at more

than 2000 CMP locations. The analysis was
carried out for the two perpendicular azimuths
in 260 CMP locations within the 8 = 8 m 3-D
seismic grid. An interactive method was used
that is based on the selection of a best fitting
hyperbola and the simultaneous stack of a group

Fig. 3. Example of Common Source Gather obtained in the area of studies 200 Mhz, 10 cm trace interval.: primary
reflections between 80 ns and 140 ns in the far offset 480 cm..

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of traces centred about the selected CMP location.

Weighted stack was used as a conventional
signal to noise ratio enhancement procedure as
well as to analyse the radar response in selected
offset ranges. The analysis of amplitudes for the
different stacks essentially near-offset, mid-offset and far-offset stack. was used in the interpretation phase to correlate the discontinuities
and identify local anomalies.
3.3. Interpretation
The interpretation was adapted to the variable
characteristics of the response through the area
and was strictly connected with the processing
phase. Processing procedures and parameters
were selected after extensive interpretation of
the results at each processing step. The following interpretation scheme was adopted.
1. A first review of the common 90 cm offset
sections, after a basic processing which includes
steps 1 through 8 of the sequence, was made to
identify profiles characterized by adequate sig-

nal to noise ratio. The screened profiles comprised a negligible percentage of the whole
dataset not greater than 5%. .
2. The interpretation of the results of multifold data processing steps 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16. was then performed. Strong coherent noise
components were observed in the resulting
stacks which were not sufficiently attenuated by
the stack procedure only.
3. Pre-stack CMP. gathers interpretation led
to the identification of the type of noise refracted waves and back-scattered refracted
waves. and to the application of a further processing step 11, FK filtering. to attenuate such
component.
4. The integrated interpretation of weighted
stacks for different offset ranges near-, mid-,
far-offset. , pre-stack records and velocity analysis panels was performed. The major discontinuities were interpreted and correlated through the
area.
5. The 3-D data volume was eventually interpreted and sliced to assess the extension and
shape of some localised anomalies.

Fig. 4. Examples of pre-stack records obtained in the area of studies: a. Common Source Gather 200 MHz antenna,
20400 cm offset range, 5 cm trace interval. b. Common Mid Point Gather 200 MHz antenna, 20400 cm offset range, 10
cm trace interval.. High amplitude coherent noise components show up in both records.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

Fig. 5. Example of Common Source Gather from the area of studies 200 MHz antenna, 20400 cm offset range, trace interval 5 cm.. GWsGround Wave,
RWsRefracted Wave, MRWs Multiply reflected Refracted Wave, BSRWs Back Scattered Refracted Wave, MBSRWs Multiply reflected Back Scattered
Refracted Wave: a. Original record b. FK filtered record c. Coherent noise components BSRW and MBSRW. removed by FK filter.

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4. Results
4.1. Data characteristics
The radar response exhibits large variations
in different parts of the area of study. Different
acquisition and processing techniques i.e., single-fold, multi-fold, 2-D and 3-D. were therefore selected and applied in order to cope with
the large variations in Signal to Noise ratio in a
cost-effective way. In this section, selected ex-

amples show how different types of records, in

particular the multi-fold ones, can be used to
discriminate noise and signal.
An example of high quality Common Source
Gather CSG. extracted from the present dataset
is shown in Fig. 3. The part of interest is located
just below the ground-wave and consists of high
amplitude, continuous reflected arrivals with
clear hyperbolic moveout. Refracted waves do
not interfere with the primary signal that, in
such conditions, can be easily interpreted even

Fig. 6. Geometry of coherent noise components observed in the area of studies: a. RW and MRW b. BSRW and MBSRW.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

in common offset single-fold. sections. Near

offset traces require a moving average removal
due to time variant DC offset in the near field.
Less than 5% of the records from the investigated area exhibit such high signal to noise
ratio: most of the data match the example in
Fig. 4a,b.. Strong interference from refracted
waves travelling at the groundair interface is
observed both in the CSG and CMP gathers. All
of refracted events travel at the speed of radar
waves in air. Some of them exhibit moveouts
decreasing with offset. This is well seen in the
example in Fig. 5a,b,c. where the reversed dip
component is removed by means of a FK filtering Fig. 5b,c... The characteristic linear moveout and the distinct apparent velocities allow

281

one to implement effective FK fan filters. Due

to the large differential moveouts, the transfer
function of a FK filter can be easily smoothed
and optimized in order to achieve substantial
noise reduction, complete preservation of primary signals and limited smearing of energy
along the tails of the impulse response. A geometric model for the observed coherent noise
components, named Refracted Waves RW. ,
Back-Scattered Refracted Waves BSRW. and
multiples MRW and MBSRW., is shown in
Fig. 6 a,b.. The model is consistent with the
arrival times observed in the pre-stack records
CSG, CMP gathers and Common Offset sections.. The average effect of pre-stack FK filtering of this components is depicted by Fig. 7 a,b.

Fig. 7. Example of Common Mid Point Gather from the area of studies 200 MHz antenna, 140500 cm offset range, trace
interval 20 cm, subtract 15 ns to correct time zero position.. a. Original record b. FK filtered record.

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Fig. 8. Comparison among between single-fold and stack records from the area of studies 200 MHz antenna, 1000% fold.: a. Near offset trace 100 cm. b. Stack
trace c. Common offset section 100 offset. d. Stack section. An average 17 dB increment is observed for the two primary reflections A,B. after the stack.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

for a CMP gather and by Fig. 8 a,b,c,d. for a

comparison between single-fold and stack

283

records. Fig. 8 also shows the net enhancement

of signal to noise ratio resulting from the stack.

Fig. 9. Example of CMP Gathers and velocity analysis from the 3-D grid in the area of studies 200 MHz antenna, 120460
cm offset range, trace interval 20 cm.: a. Azimuth NS b. Azimuth EW c. Velocity analysis of azimuth NS d.. Velocity
analysis of azimuth EW. The results are similar along both directions.

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Image enhancement is due to the reduction of

the incoherent noise component performed by

stacking and to the attenuation of the coherent

noise component primarily performed by pre-

Fig. 10. Example of CMP Gathers and velocity analysis from the 3-D grid in the area of studies 200 MHz antenna,
120460 cm offset range, trace interval 20 cm.: a. Azimuth NS b. Azimuth EW c. Velocity analysis of azimuth NS d..
Velocity analysis of azimuth EW. A difference shows up between the results obtained along the two azimuths. The
difference in estimated stacking velocity is apparent for the deep reflector.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

stack filtering. Similar results could not be attained by means of conventional single fold
techniques for the following reasons.
Increasing the vertical stack during acquisition did not introduce a reduction of the incoherent noise comparable with that obtained by
means of horizontal stack. The minimum number of stacks 256. required to appreciate a SrN
ratio increment is significantly higher than that
selected for data acquisition 32.. Field productivity is, in the case of 256 vertical stacks,
comparable with the multi-fold one 900%

285

1000% fold. but the results do not justify the

additional costs.
Weighted mixing of adjacent traces of single-fold profiles could improve the SrN ratio
and in particular attenuate the incoherent noise
and enhance coherent i.e., horizontally aligned.
components. However, this result was achieved
at the expenses of lateral resolution, which was
a crucial constraint in the area of study.
Weighted mixing techniques tend to produce a
blurring effects which overemphasizes not existing lateral continuity and cancels details which,

Fig. 11. Interval velocity field obtained along the NS azimuth a. and the EW azimuth b. across the 3-D grid. A high
velocity anomaly HV. is wider in the EW direction. This effect may be due to a larger extension of the high velocity zone
in the EW direction. The maximum observed difference between the two distributions approximately 1.2 cmrns. is related
to the different extension of the anomalous high velocity zone along the two azimuths and it is located at the borders of the
high velocity anomaly.

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in the case of archaeological sites, are frequently associated with targets.

Coherent noise components see above examples. could not be removed from single-fold

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287

Fig. 13. Stack section from the area of studies line NS-58. and CMP gather from indicated location: the integrated
interpretation of stack and pre-stack records allows the identification of the primary events. Three discontinuities are here
interpreted. The deeper one approximately 350 cm. gives low amplitude and discontinuous reflections which can be
interpreted in a small sector of the area of studies.

sections without removing, at the same time,

signals of interest. The attenuation of such components is one of the primary objectives of
georadar data processing since they substantially degrade the lateral resolution.
4.2. Radar waes elocity
Examples of the CMP records and relevant
semblance panels for the velocity analysis along
two perpendicular azimuths in the 3-D grid are

shown in Fig. 9a,b. and Fig. 10a,b. . The first

case Fig. 9a,b,c,d.. refers to a CMP location
where the observed velocities are substantially
identical in the two directions, with values
around 6.57.0 cmrns for the shallow reflection at 25 ns and 8.0 cmrns at 65 ns TWT.
CMP gathers and semblance panels are clearly
different in the second example Fig. 10 a,b,
c,d.. , particularly as regards the deeper reflection which exhibits velocities ranging between
8.0 and 10.0 cmrns in the two directions. In the

Fig. 12. GPR profile NS-58: a. Example of single-fold section from the area of studies 200 MHz antenna, 100 cm offset,
10 cm trace interval.; b. Example of stack section from the area of studies 200 MHz antenna, 1000% fold, 10 cm trace
interval.: line NS-58; c. Interpreted stack section: the multi-fold georadar line shows two clear shallow reflectors A and B.
and a deeper one C.. In the middle of the line and at both ends it is possible to identify interruptions of the continuity of the
reflectors as indicated by the interpretation. Such features could be interpreted as remains of the Roman town walls..

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framework of the present work, velocities obtained along both azimuth were considered to
stack the data. The variations of velocity as a
function of azimuth seem limited to localised
sectors of the 3-D grid, where both the shallow
and deep discontinuities are interrupted. The
limited dip of both interfaces marginally affects
the velocity measurement. Average interval velocity values for the two primary discontinuities
identified in the area are 6.0 and 8.0 cmrns for
the shallow and deep interface respectively. An
image of the interval velocity field obtained
along the two azimuths is shown in Fig. 11 a,b. .
The high velocity anomaly HV. is probably
associated with a zone with relatively low water
content which is elongated in the EW direction.

4.3. Data interpretation

Two major reflections are interpreted in the
investigated area. The shallow one is located at
an average depth of 100 cm at the base of a
layer characterized by 6.0 cmrns average interval velocity. The deeper one is situated at 220
cm average depth beneath a layer characterized
by higher interval velocity 8.0 cmrns on the
average.. Examples of single-fold, stack and
interpreted sections are shown in Figs. 1214.
The deeper interface extends throughout the
designated area. The average depth coincides
with the base of the allochtonous soils deposited
in historical times and sampled by several cores
in nearby areas Facco, 1996.. The base of such

Fig. 14. Georadar line example of prominent signal enhancement 200 MHz antenna, 1000% fold, 5 cm trace interval, line
NS-90.: A. Single-Fold section B. Stack section.

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layer consists of levels ranging in grain size

from sandy pelites with gravel to silt with debris
and stone fragments. The underlying layer deposited in alluvial plain to marsh conditions,
depending on the elevation of the site, and
consists of sandy pelites to peat clays. An electromagnetic impedance contrast as between
sandy pelites with gravel and sandy pelites or
clay is consistent with weak and discontinuous
reflections observed in the stack sections. This
interface can be interpreted in the stack sections
and CMP gathers e.g., Fig. 13. but it is hardly
imaged in the single-fold sections. Stack sections further provide good images of the shallow interface Figs. 12 and 14. . A significant
increase of interval velocities is observed at the
interruptions of such interface Fig. 11. . The
dense spatial sampling in crossline direction 50
cm. allows a straightforward correlation of the
velocity anomalies and of the interruptions. In
large sectors of the area of study both of them
exhibit coincident linear alignment Fig. 15. .
The remains exposed in the area of the Aquileia
Archaeological Park are normally foundations,
brickworks and masonry which exhibit porosity
and water content much lower than the sur-

289

rounding soil. Transmission tests performed on

sample remains confirm the high radar wave
velocity which can be expected from low water
content materials. The interpretation of the localized interruptions of the shallow reflector and
of the high velocity anomalies provided coincident results. This observation was considered as
an indicator of potential archaeological interest
and it was used to draw the final map of the
results of the study.
The map of the GPR evidences of zones of
potential archaeological interest Fig. 15. was
obtained from the integrated interpretation of
stack sections and velocity analyses. It illustrates the location of sectors characterized by
anomalous high velocity which are bounded by
interruptions of the main shallow reflector interpreted throughout the area of study. The linearity of the alignments evidenced by the map is
one of the primary indicators of features of
potential archaeological interest, since most of
the remains discovered in the area pavements,
floors, foundations and ruined walls. exhibit
clear linear limits. Velocity characteristics and
vertical shape of the features, as evidenced by
the GPR stack profiles, further support this de-

Fig. 15. Areal distribution of Georadar evidences of zones of possible archaeological interest, recommended for excavation
tests.

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duction. The areas of interest have been proposed to the local archaeological authorities for
archaeological excavation tests.

5. Discussion
The study reveals that structures of potential
archaeological interest are located at depths that
do not exceed 250 cm. Our tests of MF show
the following.
1. Signal to noise ratio increment: MF techniques yield radar image enhancement. This
statement is of general validity in GPR investigation but of particular importance in archaeological applications due to the characteristic low
signal to noise ratio of records obtained in sites
of cultural interest. The reason for the low
quality of conventional GPR images is that a
high level of scattering originates from longstanding human activity in such areas. Scatterers frequently exhibit dielectric properties not
very different from those of targets e.g., walls
or stone ruins buried in soils with interspersed
fragments of the same ruined buildings. . In the
framework of the present work the SrN enhancement obtained from MF processing allowed the identification of discontinuities in the
depth range of interest and the interpretation of
localised interruptions in those interfaces that
may be due to targets of potential archaeological interest.
2. Radar wave velocities identification: MF
techniques enable to attain the most precise and
effective solutions for velocity field reconstruction. The resulting detailed information about
the vertical and lateral velocity variations is of
use in the correlation of discontinuities throughout the area of studies and in migration and
depth conversion processing to reconstruct a
spatially correct image of the subsurface and
assess the exact location of the targets of interest. In subsurface conditions characterized by
low conductivity and best suited for GPR investigations, as it is the case of the present study,

the ratio of conduction current density to displacement current density is very small and the
propagation velocity provides direct information
about the real part of the dielectric constant of
the material. The link between radar waves
velocity and the real part of the dielectric constant allows an approximate estimate of the
dielectric properties of materials. The velocity
field reconstructed in the present work indicates
that the depth of the primary discontinuities
ranges between 70120 cm for the shallow one
and 180250 cm for the deeper one. The deep
discontinuity may correspond to a pedologic
interface. This would be consistent with the
results obtained from cores in nearby areas
which give a 240 cm average depth for the
interface between allochtonous soils deposited
in the area in historical times approximately
2500 years. . The shallow discontinuity may be
related to the activity of man in the area in the
last 2000 years. The interruptions of the shallow
discontinuity are linearly aligned across the grid
and coincide with zones of higher radar wave
velocity. Linear alignment and high velocity
anomaly support the hypothesis of a potential
archaeological interest of such zones.
3. Noise identification: coherent noise components such as RW, BSRW, MRW and MBSRW build up a substantial percentage of the
response recorded in the investigated archaeological site. We note that such components can
be discriminated from primary signals and removed only in the pre-stack domain Common
Shot or Common Mid Point Gathers.. Conventional pre-stack filtering operators, such as fk
filters, permit an efficient attenuation of these
components in pre-stack records and substantially preserve the primary signal due to the
large velocity differences normally not less
than 20 cmrns as the latter travels at velocities
not greater than 10 cmrns in the investigated
area while lateral waves and more complex
refracted paths travel at 30 cmrns.. A removal
of coherent and incoherent noise components
led to an average 7-fold increment of the SrN
ratio for the present dataset.

M. Pipan et al.r Journal of Applied Geophysics 41 (1999) 271292

4. Target identification: in the case of archaeological investigation it is normally very

difficult to obtain accurate information concerning the type of target particularly as far as
composition, shape and dimensions are concerned. This adds further complexity to the
interpretation task as the useful information may
be a spatially organized noise. This means, as in
the case of the present investigation, that what
is considered useful information in seismics,
i.e., reflections from major discontinuities in
impedance, could be disregarded as pertaining
to pedologic discontinuities. This is the case of
the deeper discontinuity which is most probably
the base of the allochtonous soil. Information on
potential archaeological interest in the designated area consists of laterally continuous reflections, such as those of the shallow discontinuity, but also of the localized interruptions of
the reflectors, generally marked also by diffraction hyperbolas, whose distributions can be easily correlated in the 3-D grid and exhibit clear
linear alignments. High velocity anomalies are
further observed at the location of such interruptions. The anomalies may be due to materials
characterized by low porosity and water content
comparatively lower than the surrounding soil.
Transmission tests performed on exposed remains in the area of the Aquileia Archaeological
Park confirm the average high velocity characteristics of the targets of archaeological interest.
Linear alignments across the area of study and
coincident high velocity anomalies support the
indication of potential archaeological interest
which is the primary result of the present work.
5. Comparative evaluation of single r
multi-fold acquisition and processing costs:
the quality of the single-fold records can be
enhanced by increasing the vertical stack during
acquisition. Extensive tests performed in the
area of study indicated that a minimum threshold of 256 vertical stacks was required to provide a noticeable SrN ratio improvement with
a moderate attenuation of the incoherent noise
component only. . The cost of field operations is
in this case comparable with that of multi-fold

291

acquisition with 800900% fold and 32 vertical

stacks. The results attainable by means of single-fold processing are however not comparable
with those obtained by means of multi-fold
methods, as clearly illustrated by Figs. 8, 12 and
14, since the main benefit of the latter techniques is the attenuation of coherent noise components which cannot be removed from singlefold records without damaging primary events
at coincident locations. In the case of the present work, the costsrbenefits ratio definitely
favours the use of multi-fold techniques.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank Prof. Angelo Guarino,
President of the National Cultural Heritage
Committee, for his support of the present research work. We acknowledge Dr. Francesca
Maselli Scotti, Director of the Aquileia National
Museum, for granting access to the investigated
area and providing historical information. We
thank Dr. Giancarlo Ligabue, Head of Centro
Studi e Ricerche Ligabue Venezia, Italy. for
his support and encouragement in our archaeological applications. We are grateful to Mr. G.
Boutard, M. La Porta, and Ms. K. Sfiligoi for
assistance with field work.

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