KEYWORDS: Sensors, General packet radio service, Antennas, 3D acquisition, Metals, Ground penetrating radar, 3D image processing, Mining, Sensor performance, Computing systems
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is an established technology for detecting anomalies beneath the surface of the ground. GPR systems currently in use tend to be hand held or trolley mounted devices that can be moved smoothly over the surface with little or no stand off from the ground and normally have a single transmit/receive antenna pair. However, these properties are quite different from the requirements of a vehicle mounted system such as track width coverage, variable ground clearance and a noisier environment. This paper, based on Countermine research carried out by the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), details the development and application of a military, vehicle mounted GPR system. Requirements of a vehicle mounted system are outlined and research towards creating a multi-antenna, vehicle mounted technology demonstrator is discussed. The paper also examines methods of data representation for GPR systems and the advantages that can be gained in this area using a multi-antenna array such as enhanced imagery and three dimensional reconstruction of objects beneath the surface.
KEYWORDS: Explosives, Land mines, Antennas, Explosives detection, Sensors, Metals, Signal to noise ratio, Target detection, Signal detection, Signal processing
Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) is being researched in order to confirm the presence of explosives as part of landmine sensor suites for the UK MOD hand held and vehicle mounted detection applied research programs. A low power NQR system has been developed as a non-contacting, but short range, detection method for explosives typically found in landmines. The results of stand-off detection of buried anti-personnel and anti-tank quantities of RDX and TNT by this system are presented and the differences in the detection of these explosives by NQR are discussed. Signal processing and radio frequency interference rejection methods to improve the performance of NQR explosive detection have been investigated.
Mine detection systems have traditionally used close-range sensors designed to detect mines within a few feet of the sensor. It would be advantageous to be able to detect mines from a greater distance, especially if the sensor is on a vehicle-mounted platform. Forward-looking cameras are a possible way to achieve this and to provide a 24 hour capability thermal imagery would seem most suited to this application. As many mine targets have flat surfaces, radiation reflected by the target is likely to have some degree of polarization which can be differentiated from the surrounding area, even when the target is partially obscured. This paper, based on work carried out by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), outlines how the polarization of thermal radiation in a scene can be used to detect surface lain mine targets at longer ranges than traditional sensors and discusses how partially obscured targets may be detected using this system.
Metal detection has been in use for many years as a method for mine detection. The one major downside to metal detection is that most objects with sufficient metal content will be detected thus increasing the false alarm rate and decreasing the efficiency of metal detection as a sensor for mine detection. Based on land mine detection research carried out by the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), this paper focuses on methods to reduce the negative effect of metallic clutter on sensor performance by using a dual height metal detector array on a vehicle mounted platform to reject unwanted clutter while highlighting objects that are more likely to be of interest. The paper also covers the potential of exploiting the dual height configuration for target classification and identification using feature extraction methods and neural networks.
An overview of the progress on the UK MOD Applied Research Program for Land Mine Detection. The Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) carries out and manages the whole of the UK MOD's Mined Area Detection Applied Research Program both within its own laboratories and in partnership with industrial and academic research organizations. This paper will address two specific areas of Applied Research: hand held mine detection and vehicle mounted mine detection in support of the Mine Detection Neutralization and Route Marking System which started in April 1997. Both are multi-sensor systems, incorporating between them metal detection, ground penetrating radar, nuclear quadrupole resonance, ultra-wideband radar, and polarized thermal imaging.
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