Fusion of ground penetrating radar and acoustics data

An effort is underway to develop a fused sensor system for effectively detecting both metallic and non-metallic landmines. This advanced research effort will meld two orthogonal technologies, acoustic-to-seismic coupling and ground penetrating synthetic aperture radar, into a single system with a higher probability of detection and lower false alarm rate than either technology can achieve individually. Previous testing has demonstrated that these two technologies have individually high probabilities of detection and low false alarm rates but exploit disparate phenomena to locate mines. The fact that they both produce similar data makes a high confidence "mine/no mine" decision possible. Future plans include a stepped development process to build a close-in detector and leveraging that experience to develop a forward-looking system capable of meeting long-term Army requirements. This effort is sponsored by the U. S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Night Vision And Electronic Sensors Directorate.