An ideal sensor for mine detection would not only provide sufficient information to detect subsurface objects, but also to identify the object as a mine or a clutter object. Without this ability, the sensor will suffer from an unacceptably high false alarm rate in a high clutter environment. This capability to discriminate can be accomplished by taking into account the fact that most landmines have vertical planes of symmetry that are not found in other natural objects (e.g., rocks). There are specific scattering responses from a symmetric object that are independent of size, shape, delectric or target depth A target identification technique has been developed to exploit this feature using sets of bistatic and multipolarimetric data collected by Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR). The data sets are grouped into various subarrays and synbthesized into a subsurface image using a three-dimensional (3D) Finite-Difference Time Migration (RTM) imaging technique. These subarrays will be combined to form multipe mirrored elements to detect the presence of vertical symmetry. A measurement method was developed to represent numerically the level of symmetry associated with the subsurface object. These sets of numerical values, goether with the ttotal scattering response, can be used to form a false color image that locates and identifies the presence of a mine. Simulated results demonstrate the potential of this method.
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