We conducted an experiment to correlate the information gathered by a suite of hard sensors with the information on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. The experiment consisting of monitoring traffic on a well- traveled road and on a road inside a facility. The sensors suite selected mainly consists of sensors that require low power for operation and last a longtime. The output of each sensor is analyzed to classify the targets as ground vehicles, humans, and airborne targets. The algorithm is also used to count the number of targets belonging to each type so the sensor can store the information for anomaly detection. In this paper, we describe the classifier algorithms used for acoustic, seismic, and passive infrared (PIR) sensor data.
Passive infrared (PIR) sensors are widely used as a part of unattended ground sensor suite for situational awareness. Currently, the PIR sensor is mainly used as a wakeup sensor for the imaging sensor in order to conserve power. Since the PIR sensor mainly responds to the thermal radiation from the target, animals in the vicinity of the sensor can cause many false alarms. The number of false alarms can be cut drastically, if the target’s size can be estimated and a decision is made based on target size. For example, if the target is 5 ft 9 in tall and 1.5 ft wide, it is most likely a human being as opposed to an animal. In this paper, we present a technique to estimate target size using two PIR sensors with Fresnel lens arrays. One of the PIR sensors is mounted such that its Fresnel zones are horizontal to the ground, and the second PIR sensor is mounted such that its Fresnel zones are at a slant angle to the horizontal plane. The former is used to estimate the width/length, while the latter is used to estimate the height of the target. The relative signal strength between the two sensors is used to estimate the distance of the target from the sensor. The time it takes to cross the Fresnel zones is used to estimate the speed of the target. The algorithm is tested using the data collected in the woods, where several animals are observed roaming.
Cadence analysis has been the main focus for discriminating between the seismic signatures of people and animals.
However, cadence analysis fails when multiple targets are generating the signatures. We analyze the mechanism
of human walking and the signature generated by a human walker, and compare it with the signature generated
by a quadruped. We develop Fourier-based analysis to differentiate the human signatures from the animal
signatures. We extract a set of basis vectors to represent the human and animal signatures using non-negative
matrix factorization, and use them to separate and classify both the targets. Grazing animals such as deer, cows,
etc., often produce sporadic signals as they move around from patch to patch of grass and one must characterize
them so as to differentiate their signatures from signatures generated by a horse steadily walking along a path.
These differences in the signatures are used in developing a robust algorithm to distinguish the signatures of
animals from humans. The algorithm is tested on real data collected in a remote area.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Ultrasonics, Doppler effect, Acoustics, Algorithm development, Signal detection, Signal generators, Electric field sensors, Detection and tracking algorithms, Data analysis
In this paper, we address the issues involved in detecting and classifying people walking and jogging/running.
When the people are walking, sensors observe the signals for a longer period compared to the case in which
people are jogging. To identify fast-moving people, one must make the decision based on the few telltale signals
generated by a person jogging: a higher impact of a foot on the ground, which can be monitored by seismic
sensors; the panting noise observed through an acoustic sensor; or a higher Doppler from an ultrasonic sensor,
to name few. First, we investigate the phenomenology associated with seismic signals generated by a person
walking and jogging. Then, we analyze ultrasonic signatures to distinguish the characteristics associated with
them. Finally, we develop the algorithms to detect and classify people walking and jogging. These algorithms
are tested on data collected in an outdoor environment.
Using laser Doppler vibrometers (LDVs) to find buried land mines has been shown to have a high probability of
detection coupled with a low probability of false alarms. Equally good results have been achieved using a 16-beam
LDV. Time division multiplexing (TDM) of this multiple-beam LDV has also been investigated as a means of increasing
the scanning speed and potentially allowing the sensor to move down the road at speeds faster than that allowed using
stop-and-stare LDVs. A moving platform induces Doppler shifts in the LDV beams that are not perpendicular to the
motion vector. This shift can be much greater than the modulation bandwidth of a stationary LDV signal; therefore, the
demodulation must allow for the shift either by increasing the processing bandwidth, which increases the system noise or
by tracking the Doppler offset and adjusting a band pass filter's center frequency. A method has been developed to track
the carrier frequency to compensate for the Doppler offset for each of the 16 channels caused by the moving platform
and then adjusting the center frequency of a digital band pass filter. This paper will present the basic filter structure and
compare the noise statistics from two different carrier tracking methods that were investigated.
The focus of this paper is a review of methods and algorithms for human motion detection in the presence of nonstationary environmental background noise. Human footstep forces on the ground/floor generate periodic broadband seismic and sound signals envelopes with two characteristic times, T1 (the footstep repetition time, which is equal to the time of the whole body periodic vibrations) and T2 (the footstep duration time, which is equal to the time interval for a single footstep from "heel strike" to "toe slap and weight transfer"). Human body motions due to walking are periodic
movements of a multiple-degrees-of-freedom mechanical system with a specific cadence frequency equal to 1/T1. For a
walking human, the cadence frequencies for the appendages are the same and lie below 3 Hz. Simultaneously collecting footstep seismic, ultrasonic, and Doppler signals of human motion enhance the capability to detect humans in quiet and noisy environments. The common denominator of in the use of these orthogonal sensors (seismic, ultrasonic, Doppler) is a signal-processing algorithm package that allows detection of human-specific time-frequency signatures and discriminates them using a distinct cadence frequency from signals produced by other moving and stationary
objects (e.g. vehicular and animal signatures). It has been experimentally shown that human cadence frequencies for
seismic, passive ultrasonic, and Doppler motion signatures are equivalent and temporally stable.
Detection and identification of vehicles obscured by forest canopy is a particularly challenging military problem.
Imaging techniques, e.g. laser radar imaging a target through gaps in foliage, require extensive data, making this
approach processing-intensive and time-consuming. A new method for standoff detection of a vehicle obscured under
forest canopy by remotely sensing the vibration of foliage with a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) has been proposed.
The method uses the effect of the vehicle engine creating sound waves, which then travel through the air and then couple
into tree leaves, causing them to vibrate. The presence of a vehicle can be determined by the spectrum of the leaves'
vibrations. Experimental study has shown that vibration velocity of leaves excited by sound from a vehicle is high
enough to be reliably detected with a LDV. The vibrations of leaves excited with simulated vehicle acoustic stimuli and
a real vehicle were successfully measured with a LDV in the laboratory and in an outdoor environment. The effect of
wind on measurements have been studied and discussed in the current work.
Using Laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) to find buried land mines has been shown to have a high probability of detection
coupled with a low probability of false alarms. Previous work has shown that is it possible to scan a square meter in
20 seconds, but this method requires that discrete areas be scanned. This limits the use of LDVs for land mine detection
to a confirmation role. The current work at the University of Mississippi has been to explore ways to increase the speed
of scanning to allow the sensor to move down the road at speed. One approach has been to look at the feasibility of using
multiple beams to look at the same spot, time division multiplexing, in order to build a time history over small ground
segments as each beam passes over the spot. The composite velocity signature built from each beam will provide a long
enough time series to obtain the necessary frequency resolution.
The coherence function between the microphone and vertical geophone is investigated for air-coupled and mechanically-coupled
sources and offers new insights into air vs. ground source discrimination. This aids one in the understanding of
air-coupled sounds from airborne and ground sources and mechanically-coupled vibrations from ground sources. Air
borne sources provide energy that that is measured by microphone and, as this energy is coupled into the ground, by
geophone. This measured energy, obtained by using co-located sensors (microphone and geophone), will have common
amplitude and phase information Ground sources produce mechanically-coupled ground waves that arrive at the
geophone with unique amplitude and phase information, independent of any acoustic signal they may radiate. Data
analyzed at an Army test site is compared to experimental results.
Seismic methods for footstep detection exploit low frequency vibration waves, typically below 100 Hz. There are two
limiting factors for detection of human footsteps at these frequencies: walking styles and the background noise floor.
The walking style changes the dynamic footstep force on the ground and, therefore, limits the maximum distance at
which walkers may be detected. For seismic frequencies, the background vibration noise floor is higher in urban areas
than in quiet areas. This article presents and discusses test results of human footstep measurements as a function of
distance using the seismic method in quiet and urban areas.
Human motion can be characterized as a periodic, temporal process of a mechanical system and can be detected by
active and passive ultrasonic methods. The active method utilizes Doppler ultrasound to characterize the motion of
individual body parts (torso, legs, arms, etc.). The friction forces of a footstep produce broadband sound signals that can
be measured by passive ultrasonic sensors. Comparison of Doppler motion and the footstep signals reveals a strong
correlation of features between the footstep friction and the maximum Doppler shift. This article presents test results
from measurements of human motion and evaluates the detection range for the passive ultrasonic method.
KEYWORDS: Ultrasonics, Sensors, Absorption, Buildings, Signal attenuation, Signal detection, Signal to noise ratio, Ultrasonography, Data acquisition, System on a chip
Methods of human detection utilizing low-frequency seismic signals (typically below a few hundred Hertz) from
footsteps are well known in the literature and in a practice. This frequency band is used for seismic detectors. Different
walking styles (regular, soft, and stealthy) result in different vibration signatures in the low-frequency range that limit
the maximum ranges for this method of footstep detection. For example, the stealthy walking style was undetectable
even a few meters from a seismic detector. Human footsteps generate broadband frequency vibrations in the
ground/floor and sound in the air from a few Hertz up to ultrasonic frequencies. The dynamic forces from footsteps that
are normal to the ground/floor are the primary cause of the low-frequency component in these signals. Striking and
sliding contacts between a foot and the ground/floor produce the high-frequency responses. The physical mechanisms
involved in the generation of high frequency signals and the possibility of their application for human footstep detection
were investigated by the authors [A. Ekimov, and J. M. Sabatier "Vibration and sound signatures of human footsteps in
buildings," J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 120, 762-768 (2006)]. The present paper introduces an approach for human footstep
detection using a passive ultrasonic method. The passive method employs an ultrasonic sensor that is sensitive to the
sound from sliding contacts. Test results for the detection of a walking person indoors and outdoors are presented and discussed.
Automating the detection process in acoustic-seismic landmine detection speeds up the detection process
and eliminates the need for a human operator in the minefield. Previous automatic detection algorithms for
acoustic landmine detection showed excellent results for detecting landmines in various environments. However, these algorithms use environment-specific noise-removal procedures that rely on training sets acquired over mine-free areas. In this work, we derive a new detection algorithm that adapts to varying conditions and employs environment-independent techniques. The algorithm is based on the generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) test and asymptotically achieves a constant false alarm rate (CFAR). The algorithm processes the magnitude and phase of the vibrational velocity and shows satisfying results of detecting landmines in gravel and dirt lanes.
The method of buried landmine detection based on using elastic waves in the ground and a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) as a vibration sensor has shown excellent performance in field tests. To increase the speed of measurements, a multi-beam laser Doppler vibrometer (MB-LDV) was developed. The system is based on a heterodyne interferometer and is capable of simultaneously measuring the vibration of the ground at 16 points over a span of 1 m with a velocity resolution of less than 1 µm/s. Both digital in-phase and quadrature (I&Q) and analog phase-locked loop (PLL) demodulation have been used for signal processing. The MB-LDV can create a velocity image of the ground surface either in "stop-and-stare" mode or in a continuously scanning mode. The continuously scanning operation results in an increased velocity noise floor due to speckle noise. The speckle noise floor increases with the increase of the speed of the laser beam and can degrade the velocity image of a mine. To overcome the effects of speckle noise, the excitation source must provide a ground vibration velocity higher than the velocity noise floor of the vibrometer. The MB-LDV has been tested at landmine test lanes and shows the ability to detect buried landmine within a one-square-meter area in a time of less than 20 s.
The multi-beam laser Doppler vibrometer (MB-LDV) has been successfully used for acoustic landmine detection in field experiments at an Army test site. Using the MB-LDV in a continuously scanning mode significantly reduces the time of the measurement. However, continuous motion of a laser beam across the ground surface generates noise at the vibrometer output due to dynamic speckles. This speckle noise defines the noise floor and the probability of detection of the system. This paper studies the origins of speckle noise for a continuously scanning LDV. The structure of the speckle field exhibits points of phase singularity that normally coincide with signal dropouts. The signal dropouts and phase singularities can cause spikes in the demodulated velocity signal, which increase the noise in the velocity signal. The response of FM demodulators to input signals causing spikes in the LDV output are investigated in this paper. Methods of spike reduction in the LDV signals have been developed and experimentally investigated.
Several experiments have demonstrated the potential of Laser Doppler Vibrometry, in conjunction with acoustic-toseismic coupling or mechanical shakers, for the detection of buried landmines. For example, experiments conducted by The University Of Mississippi and MetroLaser, Inc. have shown the ability to scan a one square meter area in less than 20 seconds with a 16-beam multi-beam LDV (MB-LDV), and find the landmines under a variety of soil conditions. Some critical requirements for this technology are to reduce the measurement time, increase the spatial resolution, and reduce the size of the systems. In this paper, MetroLaser presents data from three optical systems that help achieve these requirements: 1) A Compact MB-LDV, 2) A two dimensional, or Matrix Laser Doppler Vibrometer (MX-LDV), and 3) A Whole-field Digital Vibrometer (WDV). The compact MB-LDV produces a 1-D array of beams, which may be scanned over the target surface with a scanning mirror. The size of the new, compact MB-LDV system has been reduced to approximately 17" x 11" x 9", thus enhancing its capability for field applications. The MX-LDV, to be developed in 2006, produces a 16x16 array of beams over a one meter area, allowing the ground velocity of the entire area to be measured in a single measurement. The WDV uses a camera-based interferometry system to take a snapshot of the ground vibration over a one meter square area with very high spatial resolution. Field tests for this system are scheduled for mid-2006.
When airborne sound at two primary tones, f1, f2 (closely spaced near a resonance) excites the soil surface over a buried landmine, soil wave motion interacts with the landmine generating a scattered surface profile which can be measured over the "target." Profiles at the primaries f1, f2, and nonlinearly generated combination frequencies f1-(f2-f1) and f2+(f2-f1) , 2f1-(f2-f1), f1+f2 and 2f2+(f2-f1) (among others) have been measured for a VS 2.2 plastic, inert, anti-tank landmine, buried at 3.6 cm in sifted loess soil and in a gravel road bed. [M.S. Korman and J.M. Sabatier, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 3354-3369 (2004)]. It is observed that the "on target" to "off target" contrast ratio for the sum frequency component can be ~20 dB higher than for either primary. The vibration interaction between the top-plate interface of a buried plastic landmine and the soil above it appears to exhibit many characteristics of the mesoscopic/nanoscale nonlinear effects that are observed in geomaterials like sandstone. Near resonance, the bending (softening) of a family of increasing amplitude tuning curves, involving the vibration over the landmine, exhibits a linear relationship between the peak particle velocity and corresponding frequency. Tuning curve experiments are performed both on and off the mine in an effort to understand the nonlinearities in each case.
In this study, a new nonlinear acoustic technique, the phase shift method, is developed to measure the hysteretic nonlinearity parameter for a field soil. The technique is based on measuring the variation of phase difference between two transducers, i.e. the phase shift, induced by changing sound level. The hysteretic nonlinear parameter can be extracted from the measured phase shift as a function of sound level, or dynamic strain. With this technique, a long-term soil survey is conducted to study the variations of soil properties due to climate and seasonal changes. The hysteretic nonlinear parameter and sound speed of the soil as functions of temperature, moisture, surface tension, rain precipitation, and time are studied.
The human footstep is one of several signatures that can serve as a useful parameter for human detection. In early research, the force of footsteps was measured on load cells and the input energy from multiple footsteps was detected in the frequency range of 1-4 Hz. Cress investigated the seismic velocity response of outdoor ground sites to individuals that were crawling, walking, and running. In his work, the seismic velocity response was shown to be site-specific and the characteristic frequency range was 20-90 Hz. The current paper will present vibration and sound pressure responses of human footsteps in a broad frequency range. The vibration and sound in the low-frequency band are well known in the literature and generated by the force component normal to the ground/floor. This force is a function of person's weight and a manner of motion (e.g. walking, running, etc). Forces tangential to the ground/floor from a footstep and the ground reaction generate the high frequency responses. The interactions of foot and the ground/floor produce sliding contacts and the result is a friction signal. The parameters of this friction signal, such as frequency band and vibration and sound magnitudes as functions of human walking styles, were studied. The results of tests are presented and discussed.
Acoustic-to-seismic coupling-based technology using a multi-beam laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) as a vibration sensor has proved itself as a potential confirmatory sensor for buried landmine detection. The multi-beam LDV simultaneously measures the vibration of the ground at 16 points spread over a 1-meter line. The multi-beam LDV was used in two modes of operation: stop-and-stare, and continuously scanning beams. The noise floor of measurements in the continuously scanning mode increased with increasing scanning speed. This increase in the velocity noise floor is caused by dynamic speckles. The influence of amplitude and phase fluctuations of the Doppler signal due to dynamic speckles on the phase locked loop (PLL) demodulated output is discussed in the paper. Either airborne sound or mechanical shakers can be used as a source to excite vibration of the ground. A specially-designed loudspeaker array and mechanical shakers were used in the frequency range from 85-2000 Hz to excite vibrations in the ground and elicit resonances in the mine. The efficiency of these two methods of excitation has been investigated and is discussed in the paper. This research is supported by the U. S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command, Night, Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate under Contract DAAB15-02-C-0024.
The vibration interaction between the top-plate of buried VS 1.6 and VS 2.2 plastic, anti-tank landmines and the soil above it appears to exhibit similar characteristics to the nonlinear mesoscopic/nanoscale effects that are observed in geomaterials like rocks or granular materials. In nonlinear detection schemes, airborne sound at two primary frequencies f1 and f2 (chosen several Hz apart on either side of resonance) undergo acoustic-to-seismic coupling. Interactions with the compliant mine and soil generate combination frequencies that, through scattering, can effect the vibration velocity at the surface. Profiles at f1, f2, f1-(f2-f1) and f2+(f2-f1) exhibit a single peak while profiles at 2f1-(f2-f1), f1+f2 and 2f2+(f2-f1) are attributed to higher order mode shapes. Near resonance the bending (softening) of a family of increasing amplitude tuning curves (involving the surface vibration over the landmine), exhibits a linear relationship between the peak particle velocity and corresponding frequency. Subsequent decreasing amplitude tuning curves exhibit hysteresis effects. New tuning curve results for buried M 14 and VS 50 plastic anti-personal landmines along with experiments with a buried “plastic drum head” mine simulant behave similarly. Slow dynamics explains the amplitude difference in tuning curves for first sweeping upward and then downward through resonance, provided the soil modulus drops after periods of high strain.
In recent years, the acoustic technology for landmine detection has demonstrated success in field testing. Acoustic-to-seismic responses of buried landmines are exploited for locating the targets. Field experiments have demonstrated that different burial conditions and different landmines show different linear frequency responses. Therefore, the landmine detection system uses broad-band excitations. Until now, the research work for acoustic landmine detection has primarily focused on demonstrating a high probability of detection and low false alarm rate through systematic field experiments, such as blind field tests, especially for anti-tank mines. However, the speed of detection has not yet been shown to meet operational requirements. In designing a moving platform, one must know how fast an acoustic detector can acquire high-quality data, and what factors limit increased moving speed. Based upon field test results, this paper investigates the relationship between the bandwidth of the pseudo-random excitation, frequency resolution of linear response measurements, speckle noise, and reliable moving speeds of acoustic/seismic sensors.
Acoustic detection of the landmines, which is based on the analysis of both spatial and frequency dependencies of the acoustic-to-seismic transfer function (A/S TF), exploits the difference between the mine impedance and the impedance of the surrounding ground. However, some deeply-buried mines and some types of the mines are hard to detect due to the natural variability of the ground. This work addresses the problem of false alarms and clutter (high values of the A/S TF in some frequency bands) that mimic the physics of a buried landmine. A time-scale, linear method (wavelet analysis) was utilized for improving the probability of landmine detection. Wavelet analysis of the measured signals resulted in typically stable characteristics for the undisturbed ground, the disturbed ground, and the ground with a mine. These characteristics may be used for the discrimination of false alarms and as an additional criterion to find mines that are hard to locate by traditional methods. The advantages of the suggested technique are illustrated using the experimental data.
KEYWORDS: Roads, Land mines, Acoustics, Modulation, Wave propagation, Laser Doppler velocimetry, Frequency modulation, Data modeling, Mining, Signal attenuation
Understanding the variability of the grounds acoustic properties will lead to a reduction in false alarms associated with acoustic landmine detection. Experimental measurements of the acoustic-to-seismic transfer functions performed at a US Army eastern temperate site reveal frequency modulation scales in the acoustic-to-seismic transfer function. These modulations have different spatial dependencies along and across the mine lanes. It was hypothesized that these are due to spatial dependencies of the acoustic parameters in the ground layers. It also was speculated that downward gradients in these parameters are due to additional soil strain produced by the wheels of vehicles repeatedly moving down the lane. The measured transfer functions for a few sites were analyzed. It is shown that an elastic layered model of the ground with downward gradients of sound speed in the ground layers successfully models the features observed in the experimental data. Direct time-of-flight measurements of sound speeds in and out of the wheeled tracks confirm the results obtained from the acoustic-to-seismic transfer function analysis.
In nonlinear acoustic detection experiments involving a buried inert VS 2.2 anti-tank landmine, airborne sound at two closely spaced primary frequencies f1 and f2 couple into the ground and interact nonlinearly with the soil-top pressure plate interface. Scattering generates soil vibration at the surface at the combination frequencies | m f1 +- n f2 | , where m and n are integers. The normal component of the particle velocity at the soil surface has been measured with a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) and with a geophone by Sabatier et. al. [SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4742, (695-700), 2002; Vol. 5089, (476-486), 2003] at the gravel lane test site. Spatial profiles of the particle velocity measured for both primary components and for various combination frequencies indicate that the modal structure of the mine is playing an important role. Here, an experimental modal analysis is performed on a VS 1.6 inert anti-tank mine that is resting on sand but is not buried. Five top-plate mode shapes are described. The mine is then buried in dry finely sifted natural loess soil and excited at f1 = 120 Hz and f2 = 130 Hz. Spatial profiles at the primary components and the nonlinearly generated f1 - (f2 - f1) component are characterized by a single peak. For the 2f1+f2 and 2f2 + f1 components, the doubly peaked profiles can be attributed to the familiar mode shape of a timpani drum (that is shifted lower in frequency due to soil mass loading). Other nonlinear profiles appear to be due to a mixture of modes. This material is based upon work supported by the U. S. Army RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate under Contract DAAB15-02-C-0024.
Acoustic-to-seismic coupling technology using an LDV as a vibration sensor has proved itself as a potential confirmatory sensor for buried landmine detection. One of the most important objectives of this technology is to increase the speed of measurements over traditional point-by-point scanning LDVs. A moving cart that uses 16 LDVs as well as a continuously-scanning single beam LDV have recently been demonstrated to increase the speed of detection. Recently a multi-beam LDV simultaneously probing 16 positions on the ground has been developed and successfully used for landmine detection. In this work, we report on a continuously-scanning multi-beam LDV as a confirmatory sensor for acoustic landmine detection. The multi-beam LDV simultaneously illuminates the ground in 16 points spread over a 1 meter line. A scanning mirror moves all 16 laser beams across the line. The system enables scanning a 1 meter square area in a much shorter time than previous scanning techniques. This material is based upon work supported by the U. S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate under Contract DAAB15-02-C-0024.
The coupling of airborne sound into roadways and desert soils has been significantly investigated for the purposes of locating buried antitank (AT) landmines. However, there has been relatively little acoustic-to-seismic (A/S) coupling data collected for the purpose of buried antipersonnel (AP) landmine detection. A/S coupling landmine research has typically been accomplished with a low frequency sound source radiating pseudo-random noise in the frequency range 0f 80-300 Hz and a scanning single beam laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) with a 10 cm beam spacing. The single beam LDV is operated in a serial data collection procedure resulting in long scan times. Recently, a data collection platform that uses 16 LDVs has been used to detect buried AT landmines. In the work reported here, this data collection platform is used to scan a significant number of AP landmines. For this purpose, the LDV beam spacing is reduced to 3 cm and the upper frequency of the sound source is increased to 2 KHz.
Recent success in using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) based acoustic-to-seismic (A/S) landmine detection [Sabatier, J. M. and Xiang, N. IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing 39, 2001, pp.1146-1154.; Xiang, N. and Sabatier, J. M., J.Acoust. Soc. Am.113, 2003, pp. 1333-1341] and a ground penetrating synthetic aperture radar (GPSAR) [Bradley et al. Proc.SPIE, 4038, pp.1001-1007, 2000] suggested a novel configuration of fused sensors comprised of a LDV-based A/S detection sensor and a GPSAR. Extensive field experiments revealed that these two technologies can be considered 'orthogonal'. When used in concert, a fused configuration may significantly improve the probability of detection and reduce the false alarm rate. They function best against different types of landmines under different burial conditions because they exploit disparate phenomena to detect mines. In order to better understand the fused detection ability, a co-located field experiment has been conducted using both a LDV-based A/S sensor and a GPSAR. This paper will discuss the comparative experimental study using the recent co-located field scanning results.
The paper presents measurements taken with a scanning ultrasonic Doppler vibrometer on a landmine buried separately in sand and in grass-covered soil. The signal obtained with a laser Doppler vibrometer experiences a large variability that is due to loss of spatial coherence upon scattering from moving grass blades. Ultrasonic sensing is not affected by this limitation since the acoustic speckle is much larger than its optical counterpart. Moreover, the slightest hint of air motion enhances the motion of the grass blades, which adds to the optical decoherence and subsequent loss of useful signal. It is shown also that the ultrasonic system has no problem penetrating the layer of grass and detecting the location of the buried target excited by a mechanical shaker.
Experimental measurements have shown that the use of a multi-layered elastic media is necessary for transfer function numerical modeling. The present work deals with the effect of variability of ground properties (compression and shear wave speeds, density, attenuation and thickness of the layers) on the acoustic-seismic transfer function (admittance) and on clutter in landmine detection. Analysis is performed on the planes of parameters of the ground in a wide frequency range for all angles of incidence. Matrix approach is used to increase the accuracy of computations. It is revealed that the acoustic-seismic transfer function is sensitive to ground properties and that small variations in the shear speed may cause strong variation in the acoustic-seismic transfer function. Results of outdoor measurements of the acoustic-seismic transfer function are presented and a correlation between high magnitudes of the acoustic-seismic transfer function in certain frequency ranges (false alarms) and moisture content on the surface is revealed. A simple model explaining the correlation between moisture content in the upper layer, acoustic-seismic transfer function and ground properties is suggested.
KEYWORDS: Land mines, Acoustics, Data modeling, Wave propagation, Liquids, Motion models, Soil science, Signal attenuation, Chemical elements, Mathematical modeling
Inversion methods for estimation of geoacoustic model parameters often use the scattered field data for obtaining the properties of viscoelastic layered media. This work presents a method to retrieve soil background parameters using the outdoor acoustic-seismic transfer function (admittance). Clutter in landmine detection is related to with spatial variations of soil parameters, so knowledge of soil parameters and their spatial variability are very important for landmine detection. The resonance method is extended and used for preliminary estimation of a set of parameters for a three-layered ground model. The least squares method is later used to choose the model with the best fit to experimental data. Results of the reconstruction show good agreement with the experimental data. A description of the resonant technique and the experimental setup are presented. The effect of a finite size of the sound sources often used in acoustic landmine detection on the acoustic-seismic transfer function is also discussed.
Recent work in acoustic landmine detection has shown that many landmines exhibit a multi-mode vibration pattern. To fully map the vibration pattern of these modes requires spatial resolutions on the order of millimeters. An optical technique that lends itself to such vibration sensing is an electronic speckle pattern interferometer (ESPI). In this work the double-pulse ESPI system has been used for the vibration measurement of the ground surface. The principle of method is based on recording two specklegrams of the object with two laser pulses synchronized with the vibration peak and the vibration valley respectively. The 2D vibration amplitude spatial distribution is obtained by subtracting two specklegrams and processing the received correlation fringe pattern. The experimental setup uses a mechanical shaker to excite vibrations in the ground to significantly increase the vibration amplitudes at the spot of interest and a laser Doppler vibrometer to detect the resonant frequency of the mine. Experimental results are presented from laboratory experiments. The spatial maps of the vibrating ground over buried antitank and antipersonnel landmines are studied. The effect of the vibration of a granular material like sand on the speckle decorrelation is discussed. This material is based upon work supported by the U. S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate under Contract DAAB15-02-C-0024.
Representative data pertaining to various critical aspects of air-coupled ultrasonic Doppler sensing of ground vibrations are presented. The behavior of an ultrasonic sensor is systematically compared with that of commercial laser vibrometers. The inherent drawbacks and advantages of both techniques are discussed and evaluated in systematic experiments. The experiments are designed so as to synthesize various scenarios that may be encountered in practice. Thus the vibration sensing capability of ultrasonic vibrometers is investigated in cases including flat and grass-covered surfaces, granular media, with and without ambient air motion. The work is supported by the Office of Naval Research.
The use of a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) to sense the acoustic-to-seismic coupling ratio for buried landmine detection has previously been demonstrated. During these experiments, the LDV is mounted on a fixed platform and the beam moves continuously across the ground. Experiments show that fixed mounted LDV can achieve scanning speeds up to 3.6 km/h for successful detection of buried landmines in outdoor ground. The problems associated with taking a fixed-mount, scanning LDV and transitioning to a mobile system involve such issues as vehicle vibration, additional Doppler bandwidth due to vehicle speed, speckle noise, and sample time vs. spatial averaging. This paper presents the results of field tests with the moving platform on U.S. Army mine lanes showing that many of these issues can be overcome with an appropriately designed moving platform. The testing involved scanning different types of mines at varying depths and different speeds. Different aspects of the experiment are also discussed.
This paper discusses the performance and experimental results of a multiple beam laser Doppler vibrometer designed to locate buried landmines with the laser-acoustic technique. The device increases the speed of landmine detection by simultaneously probing 16 positions on the ground over a span of 1 meter, and measuring the ground velocity at each of these positions. Experimental results are presented from controlled laboratory experiments as well as from landmine test lanes at the University of Mississippi. In the mine lanes, the multiple beam system is raised to a height of 2.5 meters with a forklift, with the 16 beams spread over a 1 meter line along the mine lane. A motor system then allows the 16 beams to be translated across the mine lane, enabling the system to scan a 1 x 1 meter area in a much shorter time than with previous scanning techniques. The effects of experimental parameters such as platform motion, angle of incidence, speckle dropout, and system depth-of-field will be presented and discussed.
Measurements of the acoustic impedance of a VS 2.2 anti-tank plastic landmine reveal significant resonances in the frequency range between 80 and 650 Hz. The top surface resonances are due to its complicated mechanical structure vibrating in air. The lowest mode of the landmine results in a high Q simple harmonic oscillator resonance of the top surface, which behaves like a rigid mass. At higher frequencies the top surface behaves like thin circular plat acoustic modes. When these landmines are buried in soils, the modes are mass loaded. Resonances from measurements of the normal component of the acoustically induced soil surface particle velocity (due to sufficient acoustic-to-seismic coupling) are used for detection schemes. Since the interface between the top plate and the soil responds to pressure fluctuations nonlinearly, characteristics of landmines, the soil, and the interface are rich in nonlinear physics and allow for new methods of buried landmine detection not previously exploited. Here, the structure of a family of resonant tuning curves for relatively low amplitude, but nonlinear drive levels, reveals the “nonclassical” nonlinear resonant behavior of the soil-landmine oscillator.
Landmines buried in the ground can be found acoustically by insonifying the ground and detecting a contrast between the vibratory motion of the ground surface directly above the mine and away from the mine. A technique for the numerical computation of the scattered velocity field is presented here. The mine is assumed to be a rigid cylinder with a compliant top. The ground (soil) is modeled both as an effective fluid and as an elastic effective solid. To discretize the full space model, the computational domain is taken to be a cylindrical waveguide of sufficiently large radius. It is shown that the method converges for the effective fluid case providing qualitative understanding of the field data. However, in the case of an elastic solid, a surface wave propagates radially out from the mine limiting the applicability of the method in its current form. Comparisons with actual field velocity data will also be presented.
A single beam laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) has been used in acoustic-to-seismic mode [Sabatier, J.M. and Xiang, N. IEEE Trans. Geoscience and Remote Sensing 39, 2001, pp. 1146-1154; Xiang, N. and Sabatier, J.M., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113 Mar 2003]. One of the major requirements is the operational scanning speed in the acoustic detection methods. To increase the operational speed, the LDV must move continuously along the ground. An initial effort has demonstrated the feasibility of continuously scanning the ground by controlling the mirrors in a scanning laser vibrometer [Valeau et al., Development of a time-frequency representation for acoustic detection of buried objects, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 2003 (submitted).]. A continuously scanning LDV on a stationary platform has been employed. This work will discuss systematic investigations using a continuously scanning LDV to obtain field data in Army test lanes.
An effort is underway to develop a fused sensor system for effectively detecting both metallic and non-metallic landmines. This advanced research effort will meld two orthogonal technologies, acoustic-to-seismic coupling and ground penetrating synthetic aperture radar, into a single system with a higher probability of detection and lower false alarm rate than either technology can achieve individually. Previous testing has demonstrated that these two technologies have individually high probabilities of detection and low false alarm rates but exploit disparate phenomena to locate mines. The fact that they both produce similar data makes a high confidence mine/no mine decision possible. Future plans include a stepped development process to build a close-in detector and leveraging that experience to develop a forward-looking system capable of meeting long- term Army requirements.
Land mine detection research demonstrates that sending acoustic to seismic waves in the ground produces a unique vibrational response in hollow objects such as land mine casings. Even when they are buried, damped vibrations of mines can be measured at the surface above them. These vibrations can be distinguished from the ground or other natural buried objects. Field tests utilizing acoustic technology performed under static (stand still) conditions have yielded high probabilities of detection coupled with low false alarm rates. Army requirements necessitate a forward moving system; therefore we have been investigating the application of acoustic technology for land mine detection under non-static, forward moving conditions. This paper will present the results of a series of field tests in which two laser doppler vibrometers are passed over buried land mine targets that are excited by an acoustic source. The paper will discuss the experiment protocol, the results and the interpretation of these results. This paper will also discuss our future efforts at acoustic land mine detection.
KEYWORDS: Land mines, Mining, Data modeling, Model-based design, Acoustics, Visual process modeling, Target recognition, Laser Doppler velocimetry, Target detection, Chemical elements
A model has been developed to allow the scanned data obtained using a laser Doppler vibrometer-based acoustic-to- seismic landmine detection system to be analyzed without operator interaction. The ground vibration data from the LDV are pre-processed to form images in a 2-D data format. A parametric model was established to describe the amplified magnitude velocity phenomena induced by buried landmines. This model incorporates amplitude, size, position and background amplitude parameters into an automatic analysis process. An iterative regression approach is described which can be used as a major part of the automatic landmine recognition. The estimated parameters, such as the amplitude relative to the background, the size, and the shape of a target are used to make the decision regarding the presence of a mine. Once a positive decision is made, the estimated position parameters are used to localize the target location.
Acousto-to-seismic coupling has proven to be an extremely accurate technology for locating buried landmines. Most of the research to date has focused on linear acoustic techniques in which sound couples into the ground, interacts with the buried mine, and causes increased vibration of the ground above the mine. However, Donskoy has suggested that nonlinear acoustic techniques may be applicable to acoustic mine detection. This technique has recently been used with success in field tests at the University of Mississippi and US Army mine lanes. In the nonlinear acoustic technique, airborne sound is produced at two primary frequencies which couple in to the ground and a superimposed compressional wave interacts with the mine and the soil. Because the mine is compliant, contact between the soil and the mine is maintained during the compression phase of the wave, but they are separate during the tensile phase. This creates a bimodular oscillator that is inherently non-linear. This effect has been demonstrated on inert landmines at the University of Mississippi and at US Army test lanes. Results of these tests indicate that nonlinear measurements over buried landmines have more sensitivity than linear measurements. Non-compliant objects such as concrete disks do not exhibit nonlinear phenomena but can be located using linear techniques.
Data fusion from two separate and orthogonal mine detection sensors developed independently by the University of Mississippi and Planning Systems Inc. has been performed. The University of Mississippi's acoustic/seismic coupling detection is based on the measurement of ground surface vibration velocity by means of acoustic excitation and a laser Doppler vibrometer. Differences in absolute surface vibration velocity, caused by the present of buried mines, are used to infer the presence of buried land mines. Planning Systems Inc. uses ground-penetrating, synthetic- aperture radar to detect subsurface electromagnetic anomalies. Detection with the GPSAR sensor is based on differences in the dielectric constant of the ground medium and that of a buried land mine. The spatial resolutions of the two measurements are similar and the two sensors measure completely different physical properties. Dat form each system are described in detail and independent examples of performance are presented. A common geo-spatial grid is defined for both sensor systems given their respective resolving capability. Methods of simultaneous display are presented and situations in which the two systems are complementary are identified.
KEYWORDS: Acoustics, Receivers, Particles, Interfaces, Scattering, Land mines, Signal attenuation, Critical dimension metrology, Wave propagation, Chemical elements
Land mines buried a few inches below the surface of the ground can be found by acoustic excitation of the porous ground surface and measuring the particle velocity at the surface. There are various theoretical models describing the ground: from a rigid porous frame model to a compete layered poroelastic description. The goal of this paper is to use the approach of Berry et al. to calculate the acoustic field at points on the ground surface in the vicinity of an object buried in a rigid, porous soil. The excitation is point sound source placed in the air above the ground, which is modeled a rigid, porous frame. A boundary element method is used for numerical integration to calculate the scattered acoustic field due to the presence of the object. This study represents the first step towards developing a complete model of acoustic scattering from near-surface objects embedded in a layered poroelastic material. The predicted disturbance associated with the buried object is much smaller than observed in field measurements.
Acoustic-to-seismic (A/S) coupling has been used successfully to locate anti-personnel (AP) mines with a high probability of detection (Pd). This work builds on previous efforts that have demonstrated the high Pd and low false alarm rate capabilities of A/S coupling in finding ant-tank (AT) mines. This paper discusses the initial results obtained from applying A/S coupling mine detection on anti-personnel mines. Due to the smaller size of AP mines, AP mine detection is more challenging than AT mine detection. The analysis results in this paper are based on A/S coupling mine detection data fro AP mines collected using a laser Doppler vibrometer-based mine detection system. The primary challenge in AP mien detection is to maintain a low false alarm rate while retaining this high probability of detection.
A desirable characteristic for a landmine detection system is the ability of the detector to 'look' out in front of the vehicle a significant distance. The obvious reason for this is to reduce the risk to the vehicle and its operators and to allow a safe stopping distance for the vehicle. Several experiments were conducted at Fort A. P. Hill to investigated the feasibility of a forward-looking system based on acoustic-to-seismic coupling. The system, developed at the National Center for Physical Acoustics, insonifies the ground with high amplitude (120 dB), broadband (80-300 Hz) sound and measures the resulting ground vibration with a scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV). Images produced by these scans show a distinct contrast in several frequency bands between ground vibrations over a buried mine and those not over a buried mine. In a forward-looking system, both the sound source and the LDV are moved farther from the scanned area. This configuration both reduces the sound pressure level at the scanned area and decreases the angle at which the LDV beam strikes the ground. These effects reduce the contrast between the over-mine and off-mine signals. In addition, the image is distorted at the shallower LDV-ground angles. However, the results from the experiments demonstrate that the acoustic-to-seismic forward-looking approach is feasible once these technical hurdles are overcome.
The ratio of the surface soil particle velocity to the surface acoustic pressure is termed the acoustic to seismic transfer function. Measurements of this transfer function typically show several maximum and minimum in the frequency range between 50-500 Hz. The magnitude of this transfer function can be explained in light of the porous nature of the ground surface .The ground is modeled as a poro-elastic layer overlying a non-porous substrate. The boundary conditions at the air/porous soil and the porous soil/non- porous substrate interfaces are applied to setup the acoustic-to-seismic coupling problem. In the porous layer, up an downing going Biot Type I, II compressional and shear plane waves are allowed. In the non-porous elastic substrate down going compressional and shear plane waves are allowed. Using the Biot characteristics equations and these boundary conditions the steady state frequency dependent acoustic to seismic transfer function is calculated. Layer depths, Type I, and shear wave speeds are determined from a shallow seismic refraction survey. Soil density, air porosity and permeability are determined from other measurements. The calculated transfer functions are compared to that measured on several outdoor grounds.
Acoustic sensing shows promise for the detection of buried landmines. One of us has previously demonstrated successful imaging of mine simulants buried at depths from the surface to 15 centimeters, using speakers and a laser vibrometer, which collects spectral data at low frequencies. The strength of the method is in the contrast between the porous soil and the nonporous mine, while the limitations are the strong attenuation of the probing acoustic wave and coupling of the sound directly into the vibrometer.
An acoustics-based system has recently proved successful at detecting buried land mines. The present paper describes the use of this land mine detection system to discern shapes of buried objects. Steel plate targets of three shapes were used: circle, square, and equilateral triangle, each buried in sand with their major surface horizontal. In each case, for certain frequency bands, when a color-scaled spatial distribution of particle velocity amplitude is displayed in real time, the target shape is clearly visible. Calculations are made using a simplistic theoretical model in an effort to understand the frequency dependence of the experimental result. For each target, wave scattering is crudely mimicked by calculating the radiant pattern in an infinite fluid from a simple source distribution of the same shape as the target and visualizing its interference with plane incident wave. Limited qualitative understanding of experimental result is obtained with this crude mode, but the need for a more realistic scattering calculation is indicated.
At first glance, the surface of the earth appears as a relatively uniform solid surface. Seismic velocities for the earth reported in the literature are in the range of 1500 m/s and stated densities for the surface are near 3 g/m3. The big difference between the impedance of air and the surface of the earth suggests that airborne sound impinging on the surface should be efficiently reflected. During the early 1970s, personnel from Waterways Experiment Station found that geophones planted below the surface of the earth responded well to sound from aircraft. Measurements of ground motion with geophones and the signal form microphones buried in the soil as a function of soil type, depth, and frequency were conducted over a period of several years. The result of the experiments was recognition of how the porosity of soils affects the acoustic impedance of the surface and the acoustic to seismic coupling. The application of Biot theory to air filled soil pores allowed us to understand acoustic to seismic coupling in detail and enabled us to use acoustic measurements to determine soil properties. Determination of soil properties such as flow resistance, porosity and tortuosity, form acoustic measurements compare well to those determined from more conventional, non-acoustic methods. One interesting result of the measurements and theory was a confirmation of the local reaction description typically used for the impedance of soils.
In March of 1999, a research team from the University of Mississippi brought its data acquisition system consisting of an acoustic/seismic laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) mine detection sensor, to Fort A P Hill in Virginia. The purpose was to collect data over a variety of miens and to participate in a blind test. IN the blind test, the mine detection apparatus was brought to several 1-m by 1-m areas included a mix of mines, blank spots., and clutter spots as determined from prior test. The data collected over each of these spots was visualized in real time, an a mine/no mine decision was made. The resultant probability of detection was 95 percent with a false-alarm rate (FAR) of 0.03 m-3. We present a description of the test and a detailed analysis of the data collected by the University of Mississippi in the mine lanes at AP Hill. With knowledge of the baseline, we compute target and clutter statistics, including signal-to-clutter ratios for various categories of mine types and mine depths. We examine detection trends as a function of frequency. Applying image-processing techniques to the data, features such as size and shape are extracted, and the resultant feature-level target and clutter histograms are used to improve performance. The expected performance with a without feature is compared to the demonstrated performance.
During the early 1980s, the phenomenon of acoustic-to- seismic coupling was used to detect buried objects or mines. In these early measurements, large 2 Hz geophones measured the low frequency normal component of the soil particle velocity over buried targets. Several different, naturally- occurring ground types were studied in these measurement, including grass-covered ground; bare, sandy soil surfaces; and 'dirt' roads. Since the large geophone averages the particle velocity over the area of the sensor case, acoustic-to-seismic transfer function measurements were made with new, smaller-sized geophones. Higher frequency measurements were made using accelerometers. 3D maps of the surface particle velocity were made using measured seismic/acoustic transfer function data. Recognizing the need for a non-contact sensor and the need to investigate the geophone/soil coupling effect in the acoustic-to-seismic transfer function, additional measurements were made using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV). This paper explains the acoustic-to-seismic coupling mine detection measurement technique using both geophones and an LDV. The early measurements of the acoustic-to-seismic coupling transfer function for mine-like targets are discussed as well as some recent measurements using a LDV.
Measurements of a soil surface using a laser Doppler vibrometer are associated with the vibration velocity of the solid particles. Therefore, to model these measurements the deformation of the solid granular frame must be described. To properly account for the coupling of sound into the earth's surface it must be modeled as a porous medium. One model described wave propagation through porous materials with a deformable framework was developed by Biot. Poro- elastic material, described by Biot, can support two dilatational waves and one rotational wave. The dilatational waves are usually referred to as fast, or type I, waves and slow, or type II, waves. These waves deform both the solid and fluid components as they propagation. An overview of the Biot poro-elastic model is presented. Laboratory measurements on an air-filled unconsolidated packing of sand, are discussed to illustrate the predicted behavior of poro-elastic materials. The sand was excited using an acoustic wave from an air-borne source. The transmitted waves were detected using geophones and microphones buried within the sand. These measurements are compared to those using a mechanical shaker in contact with the surface.
A recent blind test and two data collections at the US Army mien test lanes at Ft AP Hill have demonstrated the great potential for the use of acoustic technology to detect buried land mines. The acoustic system built by the University of Mississippi under a contract with the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate demonstrated a very high probability of detection, a very low false alarm rate, extremely good location accuracy, and significant standoff potential. A large number of papers are being presented at this conference that deal with various specific aspects of this program. This paper will present a broad but technical overview of this program. We will describe the capabilities of this approach and the areas in which improvements are being addressed. We will discuss briefly fusion with additional sensors, which will illustrate the manner in which acoustic technology can be integrate with other sensor to form a viable and robust mine detection system. We will present the present Army requirements and operational concepts that would meet these requirements.
Airborne acoustic waves coupled into the surface of the ground excite Biot Type I and II compressional and shear waves. This coupling of airborne sound into the ground is termed acoustic-to-seismic coupling. If a land mine or other inhomogeneity is presented below the surface, the ground surface vibrational velocity or S/A ratio will increase due to reflection and scattering of the Type II compressional wave. The dispersion characteristics of this wave in solids determines the mine detection limits. The S/A ratio is read with a laser doppler vibrometer (LDV). The loud speaker and LDV were mounted onto a large forklift at Fort AP Hill. This system was used to scan patches of ground at the Fort AP Hill calibration mine lanes. An investigation on the variability of surface velocity over different background types and mine types is described. The results of these initial field exercises are described.
KEYWORDS: Land mines, Laser Doppler velocimetry, Doppler effect, Signal to noise ratio, Acoustics, Interference (communication), Signal detection, Acoustic coupling, Head, Binary data
Low detector signals, acoustic coupling and speckle noise are challenging problems in the laser Doppler-based acoustic-to-seismic detection of land mines. Scanning insonified patches over buried targets with the spatial resolution required in minefield applications demands processing a large quantity of detection data. To achieve an efficient and robust detection, acoustic-to-seismic coupling on the ground is considered as a system under test (SUT), number-theoretical maximum-length sequences (M-sequences) have been applied as the acoustic excitation to the SUT. Exploiting their excellent auto-correlation property and high noise immunity due to high signal energy and noise suppression, a fast algorithm (so-called fast M-sequence transform) is implemented in the cross-correlation procedure to extract the impulse response of the SUT directly from laser Doppler vibrometer signals with a high signal-to-noise ratio. The advantage of directly obtaining impulse responses is also exploited in featuring a time windowing technique to isolate the acoustic coupling into the laser Doppler-based system.
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