Deep convolutional neural networks for classifying GPR B-scans

Lance E. Besaw; Philip J. Stimac

doi:10.1117/12.2176250

21 May 2015 Deep convolutional neural networks for classifying GPR B-scans

Lance E. Besaw, Philip J. Stimac

Proceedings Volume 9454, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XX; 945413 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2176250
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2015, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

Symmetric and asymmetric buried explosive hazards (BEHs) present real, persistent, deadly threats on the modern battlefield. Current approaches to mitigate these threats rely on highly trained operatives to reliably detect BEHs with reasonable false alarm rates using handheld Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and metal detectors. As computers become smaller, faster and more efficient, there exists greater potential for automated threat detection based on state-of-the-art machine learning approaches, reducing the burden on the field operatives. Recent advancements in machine learning, specifically deep learning artificial neural networks, have led to significantly improved performance in pattern recognition tasks, such as object classification in digital images. Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are used in this work to extract meaningful signatures from 2-dimensional (2-D) GPR B-scans and classify threats. The CNNs skip the traditional “feature engineering” step often associated with machine learning, and instead learn the feature representations directly from the 2-D data. A multi-antennae, handheld GPR with centimeter-accurate positioning data was used to collect shallow subsurface data over prepared lanes containing a wide range of BEHs. Several heuristics were used to prevent over-training, including cross validation, network weight regularization, and “dropout.” Our results show that CNNs can extract meaningful features and accurately classify complex signatures contained in GPR B-scans, complementing existing GPR feature extraction and classification techniques.

Citation Download Citation

Lance E. Besaw and Philip J. Stimac "Deep convolutional neural networks for classifying GPR B-scans", Proc. SPIE 9454, Detection and Sensing of Mines, Explosive Objects, and Obscured Targets XX, 945413 (21 May 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2176250

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