Remote Minefield Detection System (REMIDS): a UK programme for airborne minefield detection

The UK Remote Minefield Detection System (REMIDS) Technology Demonstration Programme (TDP) is nearing the end of a five year programme that has developed emerging remote sensing technologies into an integrated system to demonstrate a capability for the reliable detection of minefields and mined areas from an airborne platform. The multi-sensor system demonstrator is being managed by DERA on behalf of the UK MoD. A novel Ultra Wide Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (UWB SAR) and a full Stokes Vector Time-parallel Polarimetric IR camera (IRPC) have been developed and a commercial VIS-NIR hyperspectral sensor is being considered for inclusion in the final system trials. While the UWB SAR is the lead sensor, with a capability for foliage penetration and target identification, confirmation and additional target discrimination is provided by polarimetric IR imaging to give a 24 hr capability. A ground station processor, based on COTS systems, has been developed to fuse all sensor outputs in a decision level process through a variety of target detection and identification algorithms. Probabilistic analysis is used on the resulting outputs to define the extent of a minefield to the system operator. In this paper we report on the development of the REMIDS programme by DERA from inception through to sensor trials, providing an overview of the sensor technologies developed and a discussion of the preliminary results.