Non-contact method and system for inspection and detection of water saturated regions in rockmass

A water saturated region detection system, comprising:

• a memory storing instructions;
• one or more communication interfaces;
• and
• one or more hardware processors coupled to the memory via the one or more communication interfaces, wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured by the instructions to:
• receive a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data associated with a plurality of rock specimens, wherein the plurality of rock specimens comprises one or more of:
• a saturated-surface-dried (SSD) rock specimen, an oven-dried (OD) rock specimen, and an air-dried (AD) rock specimen;
• generate a SAR complex image based on the received SAR data using a range doppler algorithm (RDA), wherein the generated SAR complex image is a two-dimensional (2D) SAR complex image;
• process the 2D SAR complex image using a phase tracking algorithm to obtain a one-dimensional (1D) phase tracking signal, wherein 1D phase tracking signal comprises topography information related to the plurality of rock specimens;
• estimate a peak unwrapped phase value for each rock specimen of the plurality of rock specimens based on the 1D phase tracking signal;
• evaluate a 3-point empirical polynomial function using the peak unwrapped phase value estimated for each rock specimen of the plurality of rock specimens;
• generate a generalized calibration function for water seepage mapping based, at least in part, on the 3-point empirical polynomial function using a gravimetric water saturation estimation procedure;
• receiving SAR image data associated with a target rockmass;
• and
• estimate water saturation of the target rockmass using the RDA, the phase tracking algorithm and the generated generalized calibration function, wherein the use of the RDA, the phase tracking algorithm and the generated generalized calibration function ensure that the water saturation of the target rockmass is estimated without contacting the target rockmass.

One or more non-transitory machine-readable information storage mediums comprising one or more instructions which when executed by one or more hardware processors cause:

• receiving, by a water saturated region detection system (WSRDS), a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data associated with a plurality of rock specimens, wherein the plurality of rock specimens comprises one or more of:
• a saturated-surface-dried (SSD) rock specimen, an oven-dried (OD) rock specimen, and an air-dried (AD) rock specimen;
• generating, by the WSRDS, a SAR complex image based on the received SAR data using a range doppler algorithm (RDA), wherein the generated SAR complex image is a two-dimensional (2D) SAR complex image;
• processing, by the WSRDS, the 2D SAR complex image using a phase tracking algorithm to obtain a one-dimensional (1D) phase tracking signal, wherein 1D phase tracking signal comprises topography information related to the plurality of rock specimens;
• estimating, by the WSRDS, a peak unwrapped phase value for each rock specimen of the plurality of rock specimens based on the 1D phase tracking signal;
• evaluating, by the WSRDS via the one or more hardware processors, a 3-point empirical polynomial function using the peak unwrapped phase value estimated for each rock specimen of the plurality of rock specimens;
• and
• generating, by the WSRDS, a generalized calibration function for water seepage mapping based, at least in part, on the 3-point empirical polynomial function using a gravimetric water saturation estimation procedure, wherein the generated generalized calibration function is used to detect water saturated regions in a target rockmass.