Introduction • Airborne Minefield Detection Pilot Project

OutlineOutline ofof presentationpresentation

• Introduction • Airborne minefield detection pilot project: Relevant research objectives; • Methodology development for mine action • Testing the methodology: –Belgium – Mozambique – Desk studies: WW2- Netherlands / Egypt, Germany, Zimbabwe • Conclusions and recommendations Introduction:Introduction: MineMine ActionAction …is the integrated civilian approach to overcome the landmine problem. • Level 1 survey (general survey) – Identification of suspect areas

• Level 2 survey (technical survey) – Identification of minefield boundaries

• Level 3 survey (demining) – Location and removal of landmines and UXO’s Introduction:Introduction: TheThe minemine clearanceclearance processprocess • Current techniques (metal detector, probing and use of dogs) to detect landmines are dangerous, expensive and slow; • At today’s pace of mine clearance it will still take hundreds of years to detect and remove all mines currently in place; • Each 10 % improvement in level-2 capacity (10 % reduction in area to be cleared following technical survey) results in an 8% increase in overall efficiency of the clearance operation (JRC-ISPRA). Introduction:Introduction: Songo,Songo, levellevel 11 surveysurvey SONGO MINEFIELD MOZAMBIQUE AirborneAirborne MinefieldMinefield DetectionDetection PilotPilot ProjectProject

Working Hypothesis: Operational (multi-) sensor based air or space borne platform(s) can assist in the mine action process. • From an operational point of view: – Can suspect areas be identified? – Can minefields be found and can their perimeter be accurately established? – Can individual landmines be detected? RelevantRelevant researchresearch objectivesobjectives Amongst others: • Can an airborne platform with multiple operational sensors detect minefields over large and varied tracts of land (as of 1997)? • Can other direct and indirect image indicators be used? • Can high and medium resolution satellite image fusion techniques be applied? • Is change detection analysis (using pre and post conflict images) a useful technique? StatusStatus ofof researchresearch (till(till 2002)2002) • Focused on detection of individual landmines, AT mine: Real world situation (Croatia 2000) which require high spatial resolutions to obtain multiple pixels over target; • Each of the sensors have their own (set of) limitations, allow detection under certain conditions; • Much attention to real time and automatic detection; • Experiments are conducted under controlled conditions; • Results obtained show poor probability of detection and high false alarm rate. TheThe mainmain challengechallenge

• Using operational sensors, mainly in the area of feature detection and processing; • Incorporation of image analysts – “Man in the Loop”; • Therefore possible to integrate conflict, minefield and mine related contextual information in the analysis process; • This combination should lead to better minefield detection performance and lower false alarm rates. MinefieldMinefield andand minemine relatedrelated featuresfeatures

• Framework to obtain mine and minefield related contextual information OutcomeImpactProcessInput Indicators Indicators Indicators indicators • Type of conflict •••Sipndicatorsocio-economiceriodic changes justifying landscape (villages,military• Objective action infrastructure, of landmine agriculturedeployment: and industry) Produce •Indicators justifying Controlled • long term trends Leadusing •minefieldPhysical•Economy landscapeboundaries of force (terrain, topography, natural to •Security (repeated) vegetation)•Direct minefield specific by indicators• fluctuation in the rate of measurements change•Offensive Development of conceptual and analytical understanding •Manoeuvre Main process Sub-process Impact related indicators for Mozambique and Angola (based on level 1 survey reports indicators categories from NPA and HALO Trust)

S Urban Areas – Urban – Civilian entrances to villages, trench / ring around village, relocated improvised village , social infrastructure providing o Villages areas services at community level, such as administrative buildings (government), schools, churches, shops, health posts, hospitals, isolated provincial or government towns, deny return of displaced persons to their home c i Police – Military head quarters, exercise terrain, trenches and double trench systems, foxholes, fences, (tank) parapets and o controlled areas embankments, evidence of aerial bombing, bunkers, approaches to head quarters and guerrilla bases, ammunition dumps, former fighting areas, remnants of equipment, isolation of garrisons - e Infrastructure Roads main access roads, closing off other main access roads, unused road, road verges, bypass and no further road c continuation , footpaths, bridge heads and bypass, supply route of warring fraction, crossing of railroad-road, road destruction along steep mountain sections, road blocks, check points and gates, car and truck wreckage, o resting places along tracks with shadow trees, use of tarmac roads to see any surface modifications n o Airstrip edges of airfield, overgrown landing strip (in outlying regions) m Railroad station, railway, bridges, damaged trains i pump station, dams, pipelines c Water facilities Power line pylons / electricity poles, power transformer (sub) stations Industry Industry buildings, quarry sites, small scale industry and production units at community level Agriculture Land use no use of potential arable land, footpaths through fields, fire wood collection places, field boundaries, irregular pattern of e.g. coconut plantations, regeneration of fruit tree plantations, prevent troops living off the land, changes in pattern / use like a small connected strip of unused potential arable land, corpses of cattle, goats and other wild-life being blown up, springs, water and livestock sipping tanks, boreholes and small scale irrigation facilities Political Borders following international borders Infrastructure Communication radio and television stations, other telecom facilities Known mine indicators placed by local population if mines have been identified, poles, (white painted) stones, only few locations (marked) tracks / paths through minefield N Terrain & Strategic position observation post, vantage point (with trench system), strategic area to be used during retreat of enemy forces a Topography (killing grounds), prevent access to certain areas (soldiers and equipment), areas used as troop assembly points t before main attack, inferred position of military equipment, natural boundaries, “favourable” ambush sites u r Natural Water Rivers & lakes river crossings and fording points, destroyed bridges (next to each other), access routes along rivers, along a Resources lagoons, ponds, fishing places / points, minefields aligned adjacent rivers, main streams l MinefieldMinefield andand minemine relatedrelated featuresfeatures • Identification of suitable indicators (these define the image-resolution / sensor parameters, etc.); • Collection of remote sensing data that allow identification / detection of these indicators; • Integration of indicators with level-1 and level- 2 surveys (if available); • Validation of approach using relevant features and indicators related to the occurrence of minefields from different affected countries MethodologyMethodology • Airborne test Belgium: – Test over Leopoldsburg using a multi-sensor airborne platform – Determine optimum sensor configuration • Airborne test Mozambique: – Test over several pilot areas with selected sensor suite • Space borne and small scale APh image analysis: – Multi-temporal images over Leopoldsburg – Multi-sensor and multi-temporal images over Songo, Mozambique – Satellite images in conjunction with medium scale multi- temporal aerial photos of border areas in Zimbabwe and Germany – Archived aerial photo’s from Second World War BelgiumBelgium test:test: layoutlayout minefieldsminefields

• Laid: week 20 / 1997 • Training field (“C”) • Tactical fields as realistic as possible • Surface laid and buried AP - AT mines (394) BelgiumBelgium test:test: sensorssensors usedused • Visible - NIR region: – Metric camera • Panchromatic, pan-IR, colour, CIR • Several scales, multiple coverage's – Digital camera • Thermal infrared: –IRLS –Micro FLIR • Radar: –X-band –P-band BelgiumBelgium test:test: datadata analysisanalysis

• Direct and indirect indicators are used; • Obtained through: – Visual stereoscopic photo interpretation of aerial photographs – Visual monoscopic image interpretation of digital camera, thermal and radar images in combination with photographic enlargements – Digital image enhancement – Image overlay and fusion BelgiumBelgium test:test: resultsresults obtainedobtained Minefields classified using different levels of confidence based on occurrence of indicators • 7 out of 9 minefields partly or completely detected • 2 AP minefields not detected •3 false alarms, none classified as “definite” minefield Belgium:Belgium: imageimage exampleexample

Field photo Colour AP

Layout test field “C” DoD photo CIR AP

M6-AT surface laid and buried mine alignment detected Belgium:Belgium: imageimage exampleexample Use of other indirect indicators, mechanical mine laying: Minefield “V” BelgiumBelgium test:test: indicatorsindicators BelgiumBelgium test:test: resultsresults obtainedobtained

• Mainly by large scale stereoscopic photo interpretation using colour and CIR photos; • Showed clearly the potential of incorpora- ting indirect indicators (also after results of “blind test” had been presented); • Minor contribution of TIR; • No added benefit of RADAR. BelgiumBelgium test:test: optimumoptimum sensorsensor suitesuite

• Given the image analysis process: – Metric camera with colour and colour infrared emulsions, at largest scale possible – Eventually supported by high resolution TIR sensor to increase confidence level during minefield classification stage Mozambique:Mozambique: airborneairborne surveysurvey

• Airborne campaign during the end of the dry season of 1998 • Data collected: – Colour and CIR (stereo) aerial photography, at the largest scale possible – Thermal infrared FLIR data (over Buzi only) Mozambique:Mozambique: indicatorsindicators • Image details did not allow direct identification of AP-mines; • Same image analysis techniques applied as for the Belgium test; • Extensive use of indirect indicators: – For detection of suspect areas (Bandua and Mameme) – For detection of minefield boundaries (Buzi and Songo) • Results obtained were subject to controlled field validation. Mozambique:Mozambique: imageimage exampleexample Indicators for minefield perimeter delineation, Buzi Mozambique:Mozambique: imageimage exampleexample Some minefield indicator used, Songo Mozambique:Mozambique: spacespace borneborne datadata • Songo was selected for more detailed assessment: – Use could be made of airborne survey data for “ground truth” • Best results: – Using older MSS data (1973, 1977 and 1989) – Using KFA-1000 (1979) and TM (1984) • More recent images, although having higher spatial resolution, provided less information on indicators Mozambique:Mozambique: imageimage exampleexample

Multi-temporal analysis Landsat MSS MinefieldsMinefields fromfrom WW2WW2

• The Atlantic Wall, oblique APh RAF( low tide) MinefieldsMinefields fromfrom WW2WW2 • El Alamein, Egypt, APh Mosaic by Luftwaffe

Courtesy Imperial War Museum MinefieldsMinefields inin thethe ColdCold WarWar

• East and West Berlin, the Wall at Neuköln

Panoramic camera: Corona mission 1112-2 Keyhole 4B, 25-11-1970 MinefieldsMinefields inin thethe ColdCold WarWar

• East and West Germany, the Iron Curtain KVR-1000, date unknown (Courtesy D-Sat 2, 1997)

KH-4B, 25-11-1970 MinefieldsMinefields inin ZimbabweZimbabwe • Zimbabwe border minefield, northern stretch

APh 20-05-1974 APh 11-06-1981 Scale 1:25.000 Scale 1:25.000 MinefieldsMinefields inin ZimbabweZimbabwe • Zimbabwe border minefield, northern stretch MinefieldsMinefields inin ZimbabweZimbabwe • Zimbabwe border minefield, eastern highlands

1969 1981

SPOT XS 09-05-1992 1974 1981 MainMain conclusionsconclusions Airborne minefield detection Belgium: • Only under favorable conditions can individual AT-mines be detected, AP- mines have a very low probability of detection; • Minefields having different mine laying patterns could be detected, also under different vegetation conditions; • Minefield indicators are essential to increase detection performance; • Under the Belgium conditions multi-temporal SPOT satellite images did not reveal the location of minefields. MainMain conclusionsconclusions Airborne minefield detection Mozambique: • Minefields can be detected that have been constructed over two decades ago; • Also minefields consisting of AP-mines can be detected; • For the pilot areas the suspect areas could be identified, for two areas even the minefield boundary making use of indirect indicators; • No individual AP-mines could be detected; • Pilot areas are representative for larger areas in Mozambique, but did not cover extreme environmental conditions. MainMain conclusionsconclusions Space borne minefield detection: • Also on (medium resolution) satellite images minefield indicators can be identified; • If minefield indicators are prominent (e.g. use of defoliants -roads) only post-conflict data is required, else multi-temporal imagery is needed; • Change detection should focus on enhancement of indicators, multi-temporal data should be acquired such that they have the highest probability to reveal the indicators; • Resolution merge can enhance shorter minefield alignments that might otherwise not be detected. RecommendationsRecommendations • Test the detection performance under different conditions, e.g arid areas; • More attention to minefield indicators and selection of suitable images from data archives, especially for older conflict areas (example Egypt); • Integration with current level-2 SOP; • Incorporate (semi-) automated feature extraction and classification routines and test application of new air- and space borne sensors; • Improvement towards access to (satellite) image archives, and incorporate indicator meta data from classified sensors. Mozambique:Mozambique: pilotpilot areasareas