Determining the number of manual measurements required to improve peat thickness estimations by ground penetrating radar

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is often used for investigating peat thickness. The quality of GPR measurements depends on electromagnetic wave (EMW) velocity estimates. The objective of this study is to determine the number of manual measurements required to minimize EMW velocity error in peatlands. A total of 175 manually measured peat thicknesses are used with a depth-to-target method to assess EMW velocity in two southern Quebec peatlands. Mean measured EMW velocities are 0.040 and 0-039 m ns(-1) with standard deviations of 0.013 and 0.008 m ns(-1). Statistical analyses show that at least 30 calibration points are required to minimize the EMW velocity error, regardless of the geological setting. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.