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Testing and Evaluation of Standoff Chemical Agent Detectors (2003) / Chapter Skim
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2 Overview
Pages 9-11

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From page 9...
... This report is confined to two types of standoff detectors, so-called passive and active detectors that are based primarily on the infrared spectral properties of the CWAs, although the protocol for active detectors could also be applied to other wavelength regions. Passive detectors are those that record the infrared spectrum emitted or absorbed by the CWA relative to the surrounding background with the only source of excitation energy being from the ambient background.
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From page 10...
... It has been estimated that the financial cost alone for a single field test with a CWA is approximately $136 million whereas a comparable test with a simulant is significantly lower, about $400,000.9 Even under the best protocol, a single field test of a standoff detector with a single CWA will not provide sufficient information on the reliability of these test devices for the variety of conditions in which they are expected to operate. Simulants, on the other hand, are relatively benign materials that can be tested in the open environment at considerably lower cost.
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From page 11...
... Various tactical considerations of risk that relate to field strategies for the use of these detectors are beyond the scope of this study and are therefore not addressed here. Initially, this report addresses the test protocol and underlying assumptions recommended in the Battelle report.
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Key Terms

  • test protocols
  • active detectors
  • passive detection
  • test protocol
  • spectral properties

  • field test
  • single field
  • protocols recommended
  • proposed test
  • topographic target

  • field testing
  • field performance
  • interfering substances
  • fundamental difference
  • standoff detector

  • significant political
  • significantly affect
  • signal resulting
  • wavelength regions
  • standoff devices

  • detectors employ
  • utilizing chemometric
  • provide standoff
  • surrounding background
  • target characteristics

  • recommends test
  • field detection
  • infrared spectroscopic
  • develop confidence
  • crossover studies


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