A system, and method of its use, provides for detecting patterns that exist within a geographic area due to the presence of an orderly array of objects. In a preferred embodiment, the system uses an irregular array of transceivers to illuminate an area suspected of containing a minefield. Typically, these minefields are arranged in an orderly arrangement. Exploiting the Bragg Effect, the transceivers, each configured as a surface wave radar, illuminate an area with RF energy that is scanned in carrier frequency within the HF band (3-30 MHz) at a pre-specified interval. At the frequency that corresponds to the Bragg Effect, a significantly increased signal level occurs that indicates the presence of a pattern such as one might expect from reflections from numerous objects arranged orderly. By processing these returns judiciously, the minefield's size, location, perimeter, and even the location of individual mines may be determined.