Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data acquisition was carried out on July to August 2021 at the Pertamina RDMP Balikpapan. GPR is a method in Applied Geophysics that uses the principle of the propagation of electromagnetic waves (EM) to image the condition of the subsurface medium. GPR utilizes the propagation properties of electromagnetic (EM) waves that respond to changes in the electromagnetic properties of the subsurface medium. The speed of EM wave propagation is the main controlling factor in the occurrence of reflection events, which is largely determined by the contrast of the relative permittivity value between the background medium (buried medium) and the buried object/target, or it can be in the form of contrast between rock and soil layers.
GPR instruments work with the principle of emitting EM waves through a transmitter and then passing through the subsurface medium and when the EM waves encounter the boundary of the medium such as layers of rock, concrete foundations, water, metal objects, or other buried objects that have a dielectric permittivity value or dielectric constant contrast. different, the EM wave will be reflected and then received by the receiver and recorded on the instrument.
The purpose of this GPR survey activity is to obtain radargram data generated from the GPR instrument at the PT. Pertamina RU V Balikpapan site area so that it can image the subsurface conditions which will then be used to investigate hidden objects that are suspected to be important objects. The instrument used in this GPR/Georadar survey is the IDS Geo Radar Opera Duo which operates in two central frequency ranges, 250 MHz and 700 MHz. The GPR tool that we fetch for this survey is capable of detecting data up to 9 meter below underground depth.
