A robust Bayesian approach to target detection applied to explosive threat detection in handheld ground penetrating radar data

Kenneth D. Morton Jr.; Leslie M. Collins; Peter A. Torrione

doi:10.1117/12.2050514

29 May 2014 A robust Bayesian approach to target detection applied to explosive threat detection in handheld ground penetrating radar data

Kenneth D. Morton Jr., Leslie M. Collins, Peter A. Torrione

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9072, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XIX; 90720R (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2050514
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2014, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

Target detection algorithms for ground penetrating radar (GPR) data typically calculate local statistics for the background data surrounding a test sample as a means to assess changes in the data from background. To ensure that the local statistics are indicative of only the background data and not the data due to a potential target, a guard-band is employed to prohibit the data near the test sample from being used in the calculations. The selection of the guard-band can greatly impact performance, and the value chosen should be based on the expected size of a target response, which is a challenging task when the target population varies greatly. This work develops a robust Bayesian approach to target detection that does not require selection of a guard-band. By modeling the data using Students t distribution rather than a Gaussian distribution, an inference algorithm is developed that automatically identifies outliers from the background and excludes them while calculating the local statistics. The algorithm that was developed is applied to handheld GPR data, where it is shown to provide improved performance over any particular selection of a guard-band.

Citation Download Citation

Kenneth D. Morton Jr., Leslie M. Collins, and Peter A. Torrione "A robust Bayesian approach to target detection applied to explosive threat detection in handheld ground penetrating radar data", Proc. SPIE 9072, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XIX, 90720R (29 May 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2050514

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