Outdoor trials

Realistic dummy minefields have been installed in the RMA, in MEERDAAL and LEOPOLDSBURG by the Belgian Bomb Disposal Unit (SEDEE/DOVO) and the RMA. Fig.(1) shows the experimental setup of the infrared (IR) trials on the minefield of MEERDAAL and a view of the four lanes (natural soil, sand, gravel and sand+gravel) where the mines and the false alarms are laid. The infrared images data were taken every 15 min during 24 hours in two spectral bands (3-5 $\mu$m and 8-12 $\mu$m) parallel to the ground surface, to avoid interfering reflections. Fig.(2) presents samples of data in the 3-5 $\mu$m band and fig.(3) in the 8-12 $\mu$m band. These data, collected on 5 CDROM's, are available on tje JRC website. These trials were organized with the help of the technical service of the Belgian Army (DTT).

  

Figure 1: Meerdaal IR trials

  

Figure: Meerdaal IR 3-5 $\mu m$ data

  

Figure: Meerdaal IR 8-12 $\mu m$ data

Several Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) experiments organized by the RMA (ELEC) also took place, particularly with the RAMAC, the SIR2 and the ERA GPR's². The results stored on CDROM are available on the JRC website.
More than 400 AP mines, whose explosive has been replaced by an equivalent non-explosive product, were laid in LEOPOLDSBURG. The minefield layout (known with a precision of 2cm measured by the Astronomy and Geodesy Department of the RMA), has been chosen in order to mimic existing tactical configurations and is ready to be used for airborne minefield detection. The minefield of Leopoldsburg has been used as a test minefield by the DGVIII pilot project on airborne minefield detection in Mozambique. Fig.(4) gives the same scene of the minefield in different spectral bands. The photograph on the left, provided by the Aerodata company, shows a general view taken with an infrared (near infrared) film with a ground resolution of 2 cm. The two photographs on the right, provided by the Eurosense company, are taken with a colour infrared (near infrared, red and green) film with a ground resolution of 3mm. The first one is a general view, the second one shows a high resolution view of an anti-tank mine.

  

Figure 4: Leopoldsburg minefields