Vehicle-mounted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) equipment has been used by the ADF to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) for several years, but there remains much room for improvement in the signal processing component of the technology.
A recent trial between the US and Australia provided the opportunity to test the performance of vehicle-mounted GPR equipment on different soil types, says Defence researcher Canicious Abeynayake.
“Defence’s areas of operation change from time to time, so we need to have algorithms that are robust enough to work well with different soil types,” Abeynayake explains.
“Countries using the GPRs have recognised the need to optimise and enhance automatic target recognition algorithms to match local conditions and that’s why we wanted to test the equipment in different geographical locations.”
The eventual aim is to have a fused approach to IED detection – combining the strengths of mature IED detection technologies such as cable detection, metal detection and radar.
“If we can combine all three we can improve detection probability and reduce false alarms.
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Source: Australian Government – Department of Defence Science and Technology.