A collaborative program has been undertaken by the UK and US Governments to develop Countermine Capabilities for
Medium/Future Forces. The program is conducting research into a ground-based system for the detection and countering
of land mines on military routes. The overall objective of the program is to jointly develop and then evaluate a
demonstration system prototype.
This project was established as a three stage program. The first stage established a common UK/US military requirement
and conducted operational analysis based on generic sensors. Once the requirement and analysis were established,
candidate technologies appropriate to the timeframe of the program were assessed according to their Technology
Readiness Level (TRL). The program is currently in the second stage which is taking technologies identified from the
first stage and performing trials in both the UK and US aimed at a more detailed understanding of their baseline
performance. A trial in the UK was completed in 2005 where two US vehicle mounted sensor systems and one UK
vehicle mounted sensor system were trialled. The UK sensor system is described herein and consisted of three Electro-
Optic (EO) sensors that covered the visible, medium wave infra-red (IR) and long wave IR bands. The set-up of the UK
trial site and the assembly of the UK EO sensor system are discussed. Analysis of the trial data and preliminary research
on the feasibility of fusing data from the EO sensors are discussed.
There is a need for the stand-off detection of landmines either from a land or air based platform. Hyperspectral imaging technology has great potential for stand-off landmine detection. This paper will detail work undertaken by the UK Defence Science and Technology laboratory (Dstl) investigating the use of hyperspectral imaging for the detection of landmines. Both land and air based imagery has been collected using hyperspectral sensors in the VIS-SWIR region. This data and the initial results are discussed.
The UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has proven the utility of its Infrared Polarisation Sensor for forward-looking detection of flush and surface laid landmines. The system utilises a spinning polariser to analyse the polarisation content of a scene and detection is based on this analysis. This paper is based on work carried out by Dstl under the UK Applied Research Programme and focuses on an investigation into the effectiveness of applying the IPS to the detection of tripwires. The investigation and its initial results are detailed and image-processing techniques are discussed.
This paper describes a polarised Short Wavelength Infra-Red (SWIR) system using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) technology, which was assessed against a variety of tripwires and backgrounds during night and day trials as part of a DSTL (UK) programme. The system comprises a polarised SWIR illuminator and cameras fitted with SWIR filters and polarisers. Various image-processing techniques were developed and evaluated including Stoke's S1 parameter, the Radon Transform and a novel and robust feature detector. Within the limits of the optical system, a tripwire recognition capability in vegetation was achieved that approached that of a human.
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.
Conference Committee Involvement (2)
Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XIII
17 March 2008 | Orlando, Florida, United States
Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets XII
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