The first reliable trace of the use of electromagnetic waves for the localization of buried objects dates back to a 1910 German patent of Leimbach and Löwy.
Since then, thanks mainly to the development of the impulse techniques, in the early 1930s, the radar has been experimented in cognitive surveys performed on different types of soil and propagation media in general. During the 70’s with the lunar mission, the application of georadar boosted also in civilian application
Initially defined as GPR (ground penetrating radar) systems, today we use to call it SPR (surface penetrating radar) systems.
In recent years, the use of GPR techniques for geophysical surface prospecting has growing remarkably, depending largely on the economy of costs and execution times, as well as the non-destructive nature of the survey and the relative simple interpretation of results.