Ground Penetrating Radar (Mala Geoscience)

MALA is the global leader in the design and manufacture of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) systems and Alpha Geoscience is their Authorised Re-seller in Australia.  MALA provide high quality, reliable and easy to use equipment to solve your subsurface investigation needs. 

With over 70-years of professional experience, MALA have developed a versatile range of products that offer solutions across a broad range of applications.  From non-destructive testing (NDT), concrete imaging, utility detection and mapping to geophysical investigations, including Borehole, MALA has a GPR solution for you. 

Alpha offers detailed advice regarding the optimal equipment for your GPR application and can provide sales, rental, training and repair of all MALA instruments.

Innovation & Ease of Use

MALA is an innovative company that is committed to bring to market, products that provide solutions at affordable prices, and in conjunction with Alpha, to support those products with quality service. 

Through its continuous product development, MALA consistently leads the field in introducing new and often unique features and functions that are both practical and easy to use.

Mala Professional Explorer (ProEx) System

The ProEx system is a truly modular and lightweight full-range Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) system designed to meet the needs of the advanced professional user. At the heart of this new system is the ProEx Control Unit. Designed on a completely new technical platform, the ProEx is the most versatile control unit in the MALA range. 

The interchangeable features of the ProEx make it available as a single or dual-channel system in the basic configuration or a true multi-channel system with the optional expansion units. The ProEx is fully compatible with all MALA antennas, offering configurations between 25 MHz to 2.3 GHz, with up to 16 simultaneous recording channels.

Ethernet communications between the ProEx and the XV Monitor or a notebook PC ensure safe and reliable data transfer at high speed. Depending on the configuration and the antennas used, the ProEx can perform various measurements, including standard reflection surveys, tomography, or velocity (CMP) measurements.

Mala Shielded Antennas

Shielded antennas are designed for use in urban areas or sites with a lot of background noise. A shielded antenna consists of both transmitter and receiver antenna elements in a single housing. The design ensures that the transmitted radar energy is only emitted from the bottom of the antenna housing, where it is in contact with the ground and protects the receiver element from external signals (noise) from directions other than the bottom of the housing, where it is located. 

MALA’s shielded antennas are equipped with a pulling eye on the front of the housing for attaching tow handles or straps. 

A fastening block at the back of the housing allows connection of a distance-measuring wheel. The wheel operates as a triggering device instructing the radar system to collect traces at operator pre-set distant intervals. Removable skid/wear plates protect the bottom of the antenna housing ensuring they last and thereby protect the user’s investment. 

Like all of MALA’s systems, the shielded antennas are modular by design. This means that antenna electronics, pulling devices and measuring wheels are compatible and interchangeable. 

This reduces the cost for owning or expanding a system.

Range of Shielded Antennas

Mala Rough Terrain Antennas

MALA’s Rough Terrain Antenna (RTA) concept changes the face of low-frequency Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveying. The unique in-line, all-in-one, antenna design provides improved performance for deeper penetration.  The flexible “snake” like design allows the antenna to be manoeuvred easily and efficiently through the densest or most uneven of terrain without affecting ground contact, providing optimum results in the most difficult of environments. 

The most important benefit being that the operator doesn’t have to clear an access path or route prior to the profile or survey. 

Even in relatively easy environments the RTA out performs the rest, with proven results showing a significant reduction in survey time and manpower costs. Existing users of the 50 MHz variant report reductions in survey time and man power requirements to a third of those experienced when using traditional unshielded antennas.

Brief Description & Technical Specification

Typical system set-up comprises a ProEx control unit mounted in a backpack, XV Monitor, RTA, rechargeable batteries and a triggering mechanism (survey wheel, hip chain, or time). 

The whole design is rated to IP67 and complies with the European ETSI EN 302 066-1 standard. 

Applications

The RTA series is recommended for deep geological layer investigations. Although, other applications include: glaciology, archaeological/ anthropological investigations, mapping of groundwater resources and depth to bedrock mapping.