Multispectral concealed weapon detection in visible, infrared and terahertz

Detection of concealed dangerous objects is a very demanding problem of public safety. So far, the problem of detecting objects hidden under clothing was considered only in the case of airports but it is becoming more and more important for public places like metro stations, and government buildings. The development of imaging devices and exploration of new spectral bands is a chance to introduce new equipment for assuring public safety. It has been proved that objects hidden under clothing can be detected and visualized using terahertz (THz) cameras. However, passive THz cameras still offer too low image resolution for objects recognition. On the other hand new infrared cameras offer sufficient parameters to detect objects covered with fabrics in some conditions, as well as high image quality and big pixel resolutions. The purpose of the studies is to investigate the possibilities of using various cameras operating in different spectral ranges for detection of concealed objects. In the article, we present the measurement setup consisting of medium wavelength infrared (MWIR), long wavelength infrared (LWIR), THz and visible cameras and the initial results of measurements with various types of clothing and test objects.