Geophysical Survey Systems (GSSI), a manufacturer of ground penetrating radar (GPR) equipment, announced updates to its UtilityScan GPR.

This system can locate the position and depth of metallic and non-metallic objects, including service utilities such as gas, communications, sewer lines as well as underground storage tanks and PVC pipes.

The newly released 3-D data collection and playback mode for the UtilityScan DF model now provides an X-ray-like image of the ground in addition to the standard 2-D mode, making it suited for environmental assessment. The UtilityScan DF offers a non-intrusive means of examining the subsurface for environmental hazards such as soil contamination, underground storage tanks and drums.

The equipment can also delineate landfills and pathways for contaminant flow, as well as conduct hydrogeologic investigations such as water table mapping.

The UtilityScan DF has a dual-frequency antenna and touch-screen monitor that allows users to simultaneously view shallow and deep targets in a single scan. New software features also allow users to input colored markers while using a GPS unit to aid in subsurface target classification.

In addition to environmental assessment and utility detection, the UtilityScan family of GPR solutions is configurable to the needs of a variety of other applications, including road inspection, concrete scanning and geological, archaeological and forensic investigations. With 10 different cart, antenna and control unit configurations, the UtilityScan can be tailored to meet a wide range of needs and budgets.