Passive imaging technology for the protection of critical infrastructures

Abstract

Microwaves in the range of 1-300 GHz are used in many respects for remote sensing applications. Besides radar sensors particularly passive measurement methods are used for two-dimensional imaging. The imaging of persons and critical infrastructures for security purposes is of increasing interest particularly for transportation services or public events. Personnel inspection with respect to weapons and explosives becomes an important mean concerning terrorist attacks. Microwaves can penetrate clothing and a multitude of other materials and allow the detection of hidden objects by monitoring dielectric anomalies. Passive microwave remote sensing allows a daytime independent non-destructive observation and examination of the objects of interest under nearly all weather conditions without artificial exposure of persons or areas. In this paper an experimental system is described and some results for the detection of concealed objects are shown.