Distributed sensor networks for detection of mobile radioactive sources
R. J. Nemzek, J.S. Dreicer, David C. Torney, Tony T. Warnock · IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science · 2004
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.