Experimental Estimation of the Relative Reflection Coefficient of Gasoline-Contaminated Water Using a Low-Cost UHF SDR-Based Electromagnetic Reflectometry System
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: Water contamination by petroleum products represents an increasing environmental concern due to its impact on aquatic ecosystems and water resources. This paper presents a low-cost electromagnetic reflectometry system for estimating the relative reflection coefficient of gasoline-contaminated water using a software-defined radio (SDR) and a pair of log-periodic antennas. The proposed system operates in the UHF band from 2.1 to 3.0 GHz using a continuous-wave measurement scheme to acquire the reflected signal from the liquid surface. To improve measurement stability and repeatability, the signal processing chain incorporates temporal alignment based on cross-correlation, residual phase error compensation, and coherent averaging of multiple signal acquisitions. Water samples with different gasoline concentrations were experimentally evaluated under a fixed measurement geometry, and the relative reflection coefficient was estimated from the amplitude and phase of the reflected signal. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methodology provides repeatable measurements and enables discrimination between different contamination ratios. The proposed approach represents a low-cost alternative for the electromagnetic characterization of liquids and provides a foundation for future environmental monitoring systems based on electromagnetic reflectometry.
Institution: National Polytechnic School
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: Escuela Politécnica Nacional
OpenAlex ID: W7225201446