Proof: How Small Drones Can Find Buried Landmines in the Desert Using Airborne IR Thermography

Hypotheses and speculation have circulated for at least three decades regarding how IR thermography could be viable as a technique for locating buried landmines in arid environments. However, there has been a lack of proof under actual field conditions. Addressing many overall questions regarding small drones in HMA, the Odyssey2025 Project—led by HI and Mobility Robotics— closely collaborated with the national mine action center in Chad, the Haut Commissariat National au Déminage (HCND), to complete activities and objectives. As part of a holistic approach, the primary objective was to determine how small drones could add value in HMA field operations and augment other assets at both simple and advanced perspectives. This research is from an advanced perspective, following on from the work previously published in The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction outlining how low-cost consumer drones can augment HMA operations at a simple level using visual imagery and GIS/cartography/photogrammetry. This article aims to advance the field’s understanding of drones and their ability to indicate the location of buried objects

Synthetic landmine scene development and validation in DIRSIG

Detection and neutralization of surface-laid and buried landmines has been a slow and dangerous endeavor for military forces and humanitarian organizations throughout the world. In an effort to make the process faster and safer, scientists have begun to exploit the ever-evolving passive electro-optical realm of detectors, both from a broadband perspective and a multi or hyperspectral perspective. Carried with this exploitation is the development of mine detection algorithms that take advantage of spectral features exhibited by mine targets, only available in a multi or hyperspectral data set. Difficulty in algorithm development arises from a lack of robust data, which is needed to appropriately test the validity of an algorithm\u27s results. This paper discusses the development of synthetic data using the Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model. A synthetic landmine scene has been modeled representing data collected at an arid US Army test site by the University of Hawaii\u27s Airborne Hyperspectral Imager (AHI). The synthetic data has been created and validated to represent the surrogate minefield thermally, spatially, spectrally, and temporally over the 7.9 to 11.5 micron region using 70 bands of data. Validation of the scene has been accomplished by direct comparison to the AHI truth data using qualitative band to band visual analysis, radiance curve comparison, Rank Order Correlation comparison, Principle Components dimensionality analysis, Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix and Spectral Co-occurrence Matrix analysis, and an evaluation of the R(x) algorithm\u27s performance. This paper discusses landmine detection phenomenology, describes the steps taken to build the scene, modeling methods utilized to overcome input parameter limitations, and compares the synthetic scene to truth data

Temperature and humidity within a mobile barchan sand dune, implications for microbial survival

International audienc

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction, Issue 25.3

A Note from the Interim Director UKRAINE: Coordinating the Response By Greg Crowther [ MAG (Mines Advisory Group) ] The Recovery of Human Remains in Weapon-Contaminated Settings: Towards Guidance for the Mine Action Community By Lou Maresca, Chris Poole, and Jane Taylor, PhD [ International Committee of the Red Cross ] I ntegrating Humanitarian Mine Action and Humanitarian Forensic Action By Lauren Cobham, Nicholas Márquez-Grant, and Mike Harris [ Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University ], Caroline Barker [ Independent Forensic Anthropologist and Archaeologist ], César Sanabria Medina, [ Biomedical Science Research Group, School of Medicine, University Antonio Nariño ], Javier Naranjo-Santana [ The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo ], and Gareth Collett [ United Nations Development Programme ] Missed Opportunities: A Chance to Develop Synergy Between Humanitarian Mine Action and Humanitarian Forensic Action By Patrick Nowak [ American Military University ] Mine Action and the Reintegration of Former Combatants: Expanding the Debate By Laurie Druelle [ Independent ], Henrique Garbino [ Swedish Defence University ], and Eric Mellado Åhlin [ Independent ] Mine Action in Afghanistan and Tajikistan: Challenges and Opportunities By Markus Schindler [ Swiss Foundation for Mine Action ] TNMAC’s Victim Assistance Activities: The Mental Health Aspect of Survivors and HMA Personnel By Reykhan Muminova, MD, PhD, and Muhabbat Ibrohimzoda, PhD [ Tajikistan National Mine Action Center ] National Capacity Building for Humanitarian Mine Action Activities in Iraq By Mark Wilkinson, PhD [ United Nations Mine Action Service, Iraq ] New Conventional EOD and IEDD Competency Standards for Mine Action: Notes on T&EP 09.30, 09.31, and IMAS 09.30 By Roly Evans [ Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining ] and Dan Perkins Environmental Soil Sampling and Analysis: Application in Supporting Sustainable Land Use Practices in Areas Impacted by Explosive Ordnance By Bui Doan Bach, Kimberley McCosker [ Norwegian People’s Aid ], and Linsey Cottrell [ Conflict and Environment Observatory ] Proof: How TIR Imaging Can Locate Buried Cluster Munitions in the Iraqi Desert By John Fardoulis [ Mobility Robotics ], Xavier Depreytere [ Humanity & Inclusion ], and Jonathon Guthrie [ Norwegian People’s Aid ] Endnote

Airborne thermography and ground geophysical investigation for detecting shallow ground disturbance under vegetation

This thesis discusses the potential of airborne thermal prospection for detecting shallow ground disturbance beneath vegetation based on images acquired by the NERC Airborne Thematic Mapper (ATM) at thermal infrared wavelengths. Shallow ground disturbance creates a differential heat flux due to a variation in the thermal properties between disturbed and undisturbed soils. When observed above a canopy, the effect of vegetation growth on the thermal regime of the underlying soils is poorly understood. The research extends current understanding by examining areas where ground disturbance is known to exist under variable vegetation cover at an archaeological site at Bosworth, Leicestershire and areas of abandoned mine activity on Baildon Moor, W. Yorkshire and in the N. Pennine Orefield, Weardale. The investigation focuses on qualitative image interpretation techniques, where anomalies on day and night thermal images are compared with those manifest on the multispectral images, and a more quantitative approach of Apparent Thermal Inertia (ATI) modelling. Physical thermal inertia is a parameter that is sensitive to volumetric variations in the soil, but cannot be measured directly using remote sensing techniques. However, an apparent thermal inertia is determined by examining the day and night temperature contrast of the surface, where spatial variations can signify potential features buried in the near-surface environment. Ground temperature profiling at the Bosworth site indicates that diurnal heat dissipates between 0.20-0.50m at an early stage in vegetation development with progressively lower diurnal amplitudes observed at 0.20m as the vegetation develops. Results also show that the time of diurnal maximum temperature occurs progressively later as vegetation develops, implying an importance for thermal image acquisition. The quantitative investigation concentrates on the Bosworth site where extensive ground geophysical prospection was performed and vertical soil samples extracted across features of variable multispectral, thermal and ATI response to enable comparison of the observed airborne thermal response with physical soil properties. Results suggest that there is a high correlation between ATI and soil moisture properties at 0.15-0.25m depth (R(^2)=0.99) at an early stage in cereal crop development but has a high correlation at a wider depth range (0.10-0.30m) at a later stage in development (R(^2)=0.98). The high correlation between physical ground disturbance and the thermal response is also corroborated qualitatively with the results of the resistivity surveys. The ATI modelling reveals similar features to those evident on day or night thermal images at an early stage in vegetation growth, suggesting that thermal imaging during the day at an early stage in vegetation growth may supply sufficient information on features buried in the near-surface environment. Airborne thermal imaging therefore provides a useful complementary prospection tool for archaeological and geological applications for surfaces covered by vegetation

Alaskan water resources: Selected abstracts, 1974

Compiled and Edited by Charles Hartman and Sheila. FinchAs one of the 51 Water Resources Research Institutes administered under the Water Resources Research Act of 1964, IWR receives a semimonthly journal entitled Selected Water Resources Abstracts. The bulletin, published by the Water Resources Scientific Information Center (WRSIC) of the Office of Water Research and Technology, includes abstracts of documents covering the water-related aspects of the life, physical, and social sciences as well as related engineering and legal aspects of the characteristics, conservation, control, use, or management of water. Each abstract in the bulletin is classified into 10 fields and 60 groups of water research categories (see page iii). In addition, the journal contains a subject, author, and organizational index. In an attempt to keep interested parties abreast of the research being done in water resources in Alaska, the Institute of Water Resources is planning to publish yearly all abstracts listed under the subject index "Alaska." This report covers all citations for 1974