Enhancing nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) signature detection leveraging interference suppression algorithms

James A. DeBardelaben; Jeremy K. Miller; Wilbur L. Myrick; Joel B. Miller; G. Charmaine Gilbreath; Blerta Bajramaj

doi:10.1117/12.920942

7 June 2012 Enhancing nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) signature detection leveraging interference suppression algorithms

James A. DeBardelaben, Jeremy K. Miller, Wilbur L. Myrick, Joel B. Miller, G. Charmaine Gilbreath, Blerta Bajramaj

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8382, Active and Passive Signatures III; 838206 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.920942
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2012, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Abstract

Nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) is a radio frequency (RF) magnetic spectroscopic technique that has been shown to detect and identify a wide range of explosive materials containing quadrupolar nuclei. The NQR response signal provides a unique signature of the material of interest. The signal is, however, very weak and can be masked by non-stationary RF interference (RFI) and thermal noise, limiting detection distance. In this paper, we investigate the bounds on the NQR detection range for ammonium nitrate. We leverage a low-cost RFI data acquisition system composed of inexpensive B-field sensing and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software-defined radios (SDR). Using collected data as RFI reference signals, we apply adaptive filtering algorithms to mitigate RFI and enable NQR detection techniques to approach theoretical range bounds in tactical environments.

Citation Download Citation

James A. DeBardelaben, Jeremy K. Miller, Wilbur L. Myrick, Joel B. Miller, G. Charmaine Gilbreath, and Blerta Bajramaj "Enhancing nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) signature detection leveraging interference suppression algorithms", Proc. SPIE 8382, Active and Passive Signatures III, 838206 (7 June 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.920942

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