Modeling and Simulation of Very High Spatial Resolution UXOs and Landmines in a Hyperspectral Scene for UAV Survey

This paper presents methods for the modeling and simulation of explosive target placement in terrain spectral images (i.e., real hyperspectral 90-channel VNIR data), considering unexploded ordnances, landmines, and improvised explosive devices. The models used for landmine detection operate at sub-pixel levels. The presented research uses very fine spatial resolutions, 0.945 x 0.945 mm for targets and 1.868 x 1.868 cm for the scene, where the number of target pixels ranges from 52 to 116. While previous research has used the mean spectral value of the target, it is omitted in this paper. The model considers the probability of detection and its confidence intervals, which are derived and used in the analysis of the considered explosive targets. The detection results are better when decreased target endmembers are used to match the scene resolution, rather than using endmembers at the full resolution of the target. Unmanned aerial vehicles, as carriers of snapshot hyperspectral cameras, enable flexible target resolution selection and good area coverage.

Automated summary

This paper introduces methods for modeling and simulating explosive target placement in terrain spectral images, focusing on unexploded ordnances, landmines, and improvised explosive devices. The research utilizes fine spatial resolutions and shows that detection results are improved when decreasing target endmembers to match scene resolution. Unmanned aerial vehicles with snapshot hyperspectral cameras enable flexible target resolution selection and good area coverage.