Performance metrics for state-of-the-art airborne magnetic and electromagnetic systems for mapping and detection of unexploded ordnance

William E. Doll; David T. Bell; T. Jeffrey Gamey; Les P. Beard; Jacob R. Sheehan; Jeannemarie Norton

doi:10.1117/12.849748

29 April 2010 Performance metrics for state-of-the-art airborne magnetic and electromagnetic systems for mapping and detection of unexploded ordnance

William E. Doll, David T. Bell, T. Jeffrey Gamey, Les P. Beard, Jacob R. Sheehan, Jeannemarie Norton

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7664, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XV; 76640V (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.849748
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2010, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Over the past decade, notable progress has been made in the performance of airborne geophysical systems for mapping and detection of unexploded ordnance in terrestrial and shallow marine environments. For magnetometer systems, the most significant improvements include development of denser magnetometer arrays and vertical gradiometer configurations. In prototype analyses and recent Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) assessments using new production systems the greatest sensitivity has been achieved with a vertical gradiometer configuration, despite model-based survey design results which suggest that dense total-field arrays would be superior. As effective as magnetometer systems have proven to be at many sites, they are inadequate at sites where basalts and other ferrous geologic formations or soils produce anomalies that approach or exceed those of target ordnance items. Additionally, magnetometer systems are ineffective where detection of non-ferrous ordnance items is of primary concern. Recent completion of the Battelle TEM-8 airborne time-domain electromagnetic system represents the culmination of nearly nine years of assessment and development of airborne electromagnetic systems for UXO mapping and detection. A recent ESTCP demonstration of this system in New Mexico showed that it was able to detect 99% of blind-seeded ordnance items, 81mm and larger, and that it could be used to map in detail a bombing target on a basalt flow where previous airborne magnetometer surveys had failed. The probability of detection for the TEM-8 in the blind-seeded study area was better than that reported for a dense-array total-field magnetometer demonstration of the same blind-seeded site, and the TEM-8 system successfully detected these items with less than half as many anomaly picks as the dense-array total-field magnetometer system.

Citation Download Citation

William E. Doll, David T. Bell, T. Jeffrey Gamey, Les P. Beard, Jacob R. Sheehan, and Jeannemarie Norton "Performance metrics for state-of-the-art airborne magnetic and electromagnetic systems for mapping and detection of unexploded ordnance", Proc. SPIE 7664, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XV, 76640V (29 April 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.849748

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available