Using unmanned aerial vehicle-borne magnetic sensors to detect and locate improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance

Magnetic sensors configured as a tensor magnetic gradiometer not only detect magnetic targets, but also determine their location and their magnetic moment. Magnetic moment information can be used to characterize and classify objects. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) and thus many types of improvised explosive device (IED) contain steel, and thus can be detected magnetically. Suitable unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms, both gliders and powered craft, can enable coverage of a search area much more rapidly than surveys using, for instance, total-field magnetometers. We present data from gradiometer passes over different shells using a gradiometer mounted on a moving cart. We also provide detection range and speed estimates for aerial detection by a UAV.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.