Acoustic and seismic sensors have become the technology of choice for Unattended Ground Sensors. Military vehicles have loud and distinctive signatures that can be detected at remarkable distances. In order to minimize the size and cost of the proposed sensor, SenTech proposes to use a single microphone and a three component geophone as the sensor's transducers. SenTech's approach incorporates several innovative techniques that will be combined to achieve a level of performance higher than what has been achieved today in other Unattended Ground Sensor Systems. Advanced seismic processing techniques are used to eliminate the acoustically coupled seismic noise and determine the location of the vehicle. Knowledge-based classification algorithms are used to identify targets and interpret field activity. The seismic signature is processed to obtain target bearing and absolute velocity. This information makes it possible to estimate target range. The small size of the sensors will allow them to be air-dropped from helicopters or unmanned air vehicles, as well as being hand-emplaced by soldiers on the field. When multiple sensors provide overlapping coverage over an area of interest, their results can be internetted to produce a more accurate localization of a source.
