Distributed sensor networks for detection of mobile radioactive sources

Abstract

The ability to track illicit radioactive transport through an urban environment has obvious national security applications. This goal may be achieved by means of individual portal monitors, or by a network of distributed sensors. We have examined the distributed sensing problem by modeling a network of scintillation detectors measuring a Cesium-137 source. We examine signal-to-noise behavior that arises in the simple combination of data from networked radiation sensors. We find that, in the ideal case, large increases in signal-to-noise compared to an individual detector can be achieved, even for a moving source. We also discuss statistical techniques for localizing and tracking single and multiple radioactive sources.