Spatial scanning time-domain electromagnetic sensor: high spatial and time resolution signatures from metal targets and low-metal content land mines

This paper describes a spatial scanning time-domain electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor and presents results from recent field experiments with buried metal and low-metal content (LMC) anti-personnel (AP) and anti-tank (AT) plastic-cased land mines. The EMI sensor is an modified version of the Electromagnetic Target Discriminator (ETD) sensor developed for the US Army CECOM/NVSED by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. The spatial scanning ETD sensor has demonstrated the ability to measure metal target decay times starting approximately 6 ms after the transmitter current is turned off and with metal target decay time constants as short as 1 ms. The sensor antenna sweeps 80 cm over a target area and makes time-decay measurements at 14.5 mm intervals. In addition to metal target signatures, the paper describes coincident void and metal signatures from LMC land mines. The detection of coincident void and metal signatures is shown to be an important classification technique for LMC land mines.