Diurnal thermal dormant landmine detection using unmanned aerial vehicles

The detection of the metallic content of landmines is the predominant methodology employed to locate active mines. Contemporary landmines replace previously metal components with plastics, wood and glass to avoid detection. The situation has required increasingly sensitive metal detection equipment which may not always be available or effective. However, the internal explosives material has remained largely consistent. This paper exploits the changing thermal mass of this explosives material as it is heated by the sun, cooling at a delayed rate of the surrounding soil temperature. This change is recorded and measured by a thermal camera attached to an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) over several diurnal cycles, and then analyzed to identify the location of a buried landmine. A series of thermal images of surrogate landmines captured in October-November 2017, revealed clear shapes, with >2 Kelvin thermal differences to their surroundings. This indicates that UAV thermal imaging can be used for landmine detection. The techniques and method presented in this paper can be easily replicated, resulting in the identification, removal of dormant landmines in most environments, saving lives and reducing casualties.