| Abstract: | Boreholes present a potential hazard to mining in rock salt mines. The only rock salt mine in England was almost lost when they mined into an unknown borehole open to an aquifer. Rock salt is a good transmitter of VHF radar waves, so a good method of detecting boreholes is by using radar probing. This paper investigates theoretically the detection of a borehole in advance of mining using two different radar systems, Bravo II and Charlie II. Bravo II has a peak power of 20 kW at 230 MHz and Charlie II has 3 W at 440 MHz. The borehole detectability depends critically on the radar wave attenuation in salt, which is characterized by its loss tangent, tan δ. The backscattering cross section σ of the borehole is also important. These parameters are related in the radar signal-to-noise equation which determines the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for a given range in salt to the borehole. Theoretically, in salt with a tan δ of 10-3, Charlie II can detect (S/N= 3 dB) a 12.7 cm borehole 225 m in advance of mining while Bravo II, using only 100 W, can detect the same borehole 680 m ahead. These values are with the antenna E field parallel to the axis of the borehole. Theory shows this antenna orientation to be optimum for maximum detection probability. For salt with a tan δ of 2 × 10-5, the smallest value measured for salt, Bravo II can detect the borehole up to 15.3 km using maximum power of 20 kW. |
