Chemical sensing system for classification of minelike objects by explosives detection

William B. Chambers; Philip J. Rodacy; Edwin E. Jones; Bernard J. Gomez; Ronald L. Woodfin

doi:10.1117/12.324219

4 September 1998 Chemical sensing system for classification of minelike objects by explosives detection

William B. Chambers, Philip J. Rodacy, Edwin E. Jones, Bernard J. Gomez, Ronald L. Woodfin

Proceedings Volume 3392, Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets III; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.324219
Event: Aerospace/Defense Sensing and Controls, 1998, Orlando, FL, United States

Abstract

Sandia National Laboratories has conducted research in chemical sensing and analysis of explosives for many years. Recently, that experience has been directed towards detecting mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) by sensing the low-level explosive signatures associated with these objects. Our focus has been on the classification of UXO in shallow water and anti-personnel/anti tank mines on land. The objective of this work is to develop a field portable chemical sensing system which can be used to examine mine-like objects (MLO) to determine whether there are explosive molecules associated with the MLO. Two sampling subsystems have been designed, one for water collection and one for soil/vapor sampling. The water sampler utilizes a flow-through chemical adsorbent canister to extract and concentrate the explosive molecules. Explosive molecules are thermally desorbed from the concentrator and trapped in a focusing stage for rapid desorption into an ion-mobility spectrometer (IMS). We will describe a prototype system which consists of a sampler, concentrator-focuser, and detector. The soil sampler employs a light-weight probe for extracting and concentrating explosive vapor from the soil in the vicinity of an MLO. The chemical sensing system is capable of sub-part-per-billion detection of TNT and related explosive munition compounds. We will present the results of field and laboratory tests on buried landmines, which demonstrate our ability to detect the explosive signatures associated with these objects.

Citation Download Citation

William B. Chambers, Philip J. Rodacy, Edwin E. Jones, Bernard J. Gomez, and Ronald L. Woodfin "Chemical sensing system for classification of minelike objects by explosives detection", Proc. SPIE 3392, Detection and Remediation Technologies for Mines and Minelike Targets III, (4 September 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.324219

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