In this paper, a new high resolution reflectometry scheme, time-frequency domain reflectometry(TFDR), isproposed to detect and estimate a fault in a transmission line. Traditional reflectometry methodologies have been achieved either in the time domain or in the frequency domain only. However, the TFDR can jump over the performance limits of the traditional reflectometry methodologies because the acquired signal is analyzed in time and frequency domain simultaneously. In the TFDR, the new reference signal and the novel TFDR algorithm are proposed for analyzing the acquired signal in the time-frequency domain. Because the reference signal of Gaussian envelop chirp signal is localized in the time and frequency domain simultaneously, it is suitable to the analysis in the time-frequency domain. In the proposed TFDR algorithm, the time-frequency distribution function and the normalized time-frequency cross correlation function are used to detect and estimate a fault in a transmission line. That algorithm is verified for real-world coaxial cables which are typical transmission line with different types of faults by the TFDR system composed of real instruments. The performance of the TFDR methodology is compared with that o( the commercial time domain reflectomeoy(TDR) experiments, so that concludes the TFDR methodology can detect and estimate the fault with smaller error than TDR methodology.