Dr. Gary D. Sower Profile

Dr. Gary D. Sower

at EG&G Technical Services Inc

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Author

Publications (8)

Proceedings Article | 11 September 2003 Paper

Modified E-pulse target discrimination for MSI of metallic landmines

Gary Sower

Proceedings Volume 5089, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.484902

KEYWORDS: Mining, Land mines, Metals, Multispectral imaging, Magnetism, Target detection, Sensors, Polarization, Convolution, Pattern recognition

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Proceedings Article | 18 October 2001 Paper

GSTAMIDS ground-penetrating radar: hardware description

Gary Sower, John Eberly, Ed Christy

Proceedings Volume 4394, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.445518

KEYWORDS: General packet radio service, Sensors, Antennas, Land mines, Mining, Metals, Radar, Picosecond phenomena, Signal detection, Data acquisition

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The Ground Standoff Mine Detection System (GSTAMIDS) is now in the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) Block 0 phase for USA CECOM. The Mine Detection Subsystem (MDS) presently utilizes three different sensor technologies to detect buried anti-tank (AT) land mines; Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Pulsed Magnetic Induction (PMI), and passive infrared (IR). The GSTAMIDS hardware and software architectures are designed so that other technologies can readily be incorporated when and if they prove viable. Each sensor suite is designed to detect the buried mines and to discriminate against various clutter and background objects. Sensor data fusion of the outputs of the individual sensor suites then enhances the detection probability while reducing the false alarm rate from clutter objects. The metal detector is an essential tool for buried mine detection, as metal land mines still account for a large percentage of land mines. Technologies such as nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR or QR) are presently being developed to detect or confirm the presence of explosive material in buried land mines, particularly the so-called plastic mines; unfortunately, the radio frequency signals required cannot penetrate into a metal land mine. The limitation of the metal detector is not in detection of the metal mines, but in the additional detection of metal clutter. A metal detector has been developed using singular value decomposition (SVD) extraction techniques to discriminate the mines from the clutter, thereby greatly reducing false alarm rates. This mine detector is designed to characterize the impulse response function of the metal objects, based on a parametric three-pole model of the response, and to use pattern recognition to determine the match of the responses to known mines. In addition to discrimination against clutter, the system can also generally tell one mine type from another. This paper describes the PMI sensor suite hardware and its physical incorporation into the GSTAMIDS sensor modules. This is a time-domain, transient signal metal detector that gives target signal response information of a different nature than that from more conventional continuous-wave (CW) metal detectors. The magnetic design of the GSTAMIDS PMI has very broad-band radiation properties that allow for the required transient eddy current responses in the metallic targets. The design of this detector is unique in that it allows processing of the received signals from targets to begin at the very start of the eddy current decays. This then gives the ability to measure and quantify up to three decay terms in the target response, which features unambiguously identify the particular threat target. The results of the data processing algorithms that are used to extract the features used for mine detection are included herein to more clearly show the mine signals.

Proceedings Article | 18 October 2001 Paper

GSTAMIDS ground-penetrating radar: data processing algorithms

Gary Sower, Roger Kilgore, Jaime Roman

Proceedings Volume 4394, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.445532

KEYWORDS: Mining, General packet radio service, Sensors, Land mines, Deconvolution, Data acquisition, Data processing, Detection and tracking algorithms, Signal processing, Reflection

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Proceedings Article | 18 October 2001 Paper

GSTAMIDS pulsed magnetic induction metal detector: hardware description and data processing algorithms

Gary Sower, Roger Kilgore, John Eberly

Proceedings Volume 4394, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.445410

KEYWORDS: Metals, Land mines, Sensors, Mining, Magnetism, Data processing, Data modeling, Detection and tracking algorithms, Target detection, Signal processing

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The Ground Standoff Mine Detection System (GSTAMIDS) is now in the Engineering, Manufacturing and Development (EMD) Block 0 phase for USA CECOM. The Mine Detection Subsystem (MDS) presently utilizes three different sensor technologies to detect buried anti-tank (AT) land mines; Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Pulsed Magnetic Induction (PMI), and passive infrared (IR). The GSTAMIDS hardware and software architectures are designed so that other technologies can readily be incorporated when and if they prove viable. Each sensor suite is designed to detect the buried mines and to discriminate against various clutter and background objects. Sensor data fusion of the outputs of the individual sensor suites then enhances the detection probability while reducing the false alarm rate from clutter objects. The metal detector is an essential tool for buried mine detection, as metal land mines still account for a large percentage of land mines. Technologies such as nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR or QR) are presently being developed to detect or confirm the presence of explosive material in buried land mines, particularly the so-called plastic mines; unfortunately, the radio frequency signals required cannot penetrate into a metal land mine. The limitation of the metal detector is not in detection of the metal mines, but in the additional detection of metal clutter. A metal detector has been developed using singular value decomposition (SVD) extraction techniques to discriminate the mines from the clutter, thereby greatly reducing false alarm rates. This mine detector is designed to characterize the impulse response function of the metal objects, based on a parametric three-pole model of the response, and to use pattern recognition to determine the match of the responses to known mines. In addition to discrimination against clutter, the system can also generally tell one mine type from another. This paper describes the PMI sensor suite hardware and its physical incorporation into the GSTAMIDS sensor modules. This is a time-domain, transient signal metal detector that gives target signal response information of a different nature than that from more conventional continuous-wave (CW) metal detectors. The magnetic design of the GSTAMIDS PMI has very broad-band radiation properties that allow for the required transient eddy current responses in the metallic targets. The design of this detector is unique in that it allows processing of the received signals from targets to begin at the very start of the eddy current decays (t = 0). This then gives the ability to measure and quantify up to three decay terms in the target response, which features unambiguously identify the particular threat target. The results of the data processing algorithms that are used to extract the features used for mine detection are included herein to more clearly show the mine signals.

Proceedings Article | 18 October 2001 Paper

Ground standoff mine detection system (GSTAMIDS) engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) Block 0

Jackson Pressley, Donald Pabst, Gary Sower, Larry Nee, Brian Green, Peter Howard

Proceedings Volume 4394, (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.445448

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Land mines, General packet radio service, Mining, Metals, Control systems, Vehicle control, Cameras, Long wavelength infrared, Antennas

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The United States Army has contracted EG&G Technical Services to build the GSTAMIDS EMD Block 0. This system autonomously detects and marks buried anti-tank land mines from an unmanned vehicle. It consists of a remotely operated host vehicle, standard teleoperation system (STS) control, mine detection system (MDS) and a control vehicle. Two complete systems are being fabricated, along with a third MDS. The host vehicle for Block 0 is the South African Meerkat that has overpass capability for anti-tank mines, as well as armor anti-mine blast protection and ballistic protection. It is operated via the STS radio link from within the control vehicle. The Main Computer System (MCS), located in the control vehicle, receives sensor data from the MDS via a high speed radio link, processes and fuses the data to make a decision of a mine detection, and sends the information back to the host vehicle for a mark to be placed on the mine location. The MCS also has the capability to interface into the FBCB2 system via SINGARS radio. The GSTAMIDS operator station and the control vehicle communications system also connect to the MCS. The MDS sensors are mounted on the host vehicle and include Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Pulsed Magnetic Induction (PMI) metal detector, and (as an option) long-wave infrared (LWIR). A distributed processing architecture is used so that pre-processing is performed on data at the sensor level before transmission to the MCS, minimizing required throughput. Nine (9) channels each of GPR and PMI are mounted underneath the meerkat to provide a three-meter detection swath. Two IR cameras are mounted on the upper sides of the Meerkat, providing a field of view of the required swath with overlap underneath the vehicle. Also included on the host vehicle are an Internal Navigation System (INS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and radio communications for remote control and data transmission. The GSTAMIDS Block 0 is designed as a modular, expandable system with sufficient bandwidth and processing capability for incorporation of additional sensor systems in future Blocks. It is also designed to operate in adverse weather conditions and to be transportable around the world.

Proceedings Article | 22 August 2000 Paper

Combined high-dimensional analysis of variance (HANOVA) and sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) to detect buried mines

Xiaoyin Xu, Eric Miller, Gary Sower

Proceedings Volume 4038, (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.396189

KEYWORDS: General packet radio service, Mining, Signal detection, Data processing, Receivers, Signal processing, Interference (communication), Sensors, Statistical analysis, Mathematical modeling

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Proceedings Article | 2 August 1999 Paper

Discrimination of metal land mines from metal clutter: results of field tests

Gary Sower, John Endsley, Ed Christy

Proceedings Volume 3710, (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.357094

KEYWORDS: Mining, Metals, Sensors, Magnetism, Land mines, Magnetic polarizability, Polarizability, Signal processing, Pattern recognition, Target detection

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Proceedings Article | 20 June 1995 Paper

Detection and identification of mines from natural magnetic and electromagnetic resonances

Gary Sower, Steven Cave

Proceedings Volume 2496, (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.211301

KEYWORDS: Land mines, Magnetism, Metals, Sensors, Electromagnetism, Mining, Digital signal processing, Target detection, Signal processing, General packet radio service

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