Trip wire detection using polarimetric IR

Today, most research institutes dealing with landmine detection as a topic and even within many mine action communities there is a stereotype landmine image, where the only challenge is considered to be the detection of the small lowor nonmetallic anti-personnel blast mine. Indeed, this plastic cased pressure operated mine is difficult to detect. However, to the well protected deminer adhering strictly to standard operating procedures, blast AP mines are not the main threat. This mine type requires a direct and often substantial pressure to go off, and further the plastic casing creates a limited fragmentation hazard, which fortunately seldom result in serious injury or death. The presence of trip wires assisted fragmentation mines (stake mines, bounding mines and directional mines of the Claymore type) do comprise a substantial higher lethal risk to the deminer. It could from a naive point of view seem, peculiar, that these mines being visible (many of them are placed above ground) and further are easily detectable due to the high metallic content, should give reason to any particular concern. However, these mine types do not, in contrast to most blast mines, require a direct contact to the mine itself to initiate a detonation, and do in addition have a lethal range, which by far exceeds the length of the trip wire. A deminer's accidental "tripping" the wire of a fragmentation mine will for sure result in a severe bulleting. In general and reality, trip wire initiated fragmentation mines is a serious potential hazard to personnel operating in the field. For the operational deminer, the detection of the trip wires is every bit as important as the detection of the minimum-metal mines, and yet attracts only a tiny fraction of the research efforts'.