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Existing and Potential Standoff Explosives Detection Techniques (2004) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
Pages 12-17

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From page 12...
... Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1991. 3Although terrorist attacks in airlines naturally lead to greater examination of airline security and more awareness of the issue on the part of the general public, examination of airline security is an ongoing process.
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From page 13...
... All of the events in Table 1.1 are different, and none fit into the airport security scenario described above. In each of these events -- as opposed to an airport portal screening -- individuals or vehicles appear from an open environment and a se TABLE 1.1 Selected Terrorism Attacks Outside the Realm of Portal Screening Security Location Year Type of Bombing Deaths Israel 2000-present Suicide (individual)
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From page 14...
... or wide-area surveillance.4 These scenarios were outlined to the committee by the sponsor at their first committee meeting.5 Nuclear explosives were not considered, nor were explosives designed to deliver biological agents. The committee received briefings from outside experts and developed a knowledge base on existing chemical explosives and existing detection methods, without constraining itself to standoff detection techniques.
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From page 15...
... STANDOFF DETECTION Standoff detection involves decision making at a distance within a certain time frame. To focus its task, the committee developed the following definition: Standoff explosive detection involves passive and active methods for sensing the presence of explosive devices when vital assets and those individuals monitoring, operating, and responding to the means of de tection are physically separated from the explosive device.
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From page 16...
... , they are related since adjusting a detection method to limit false positives typically results in an increase in false negatives and vice versa. A graph comparing the false-negative and false-positive probabilities for a variety of settings for a particular detection methodology yields the "receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
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From page 17...
... A framework for developing detection systems, which identifies a decision process based on disparate data inputs, is described in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 summarizes the chemical characteristics of known explosive devices that could be exploited in a detection scheme, while Chapter 5 describes detection methods currently used or under development.
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Key Terms

  • detection methods
  • airline security
  • explosives detection
  • severe damage
  • true threat

  • detection techniques
  • proposed detection
  • vital assets
  • detection methodology
  • detection involves

  • portal screening
  • false positives
  • explosive devices
  • suicide bomber
  • basic scenarios

  • standoff explosives
  • individual detectors
  • chemical explosives
  • generate alarms
  • false negatives

  • bomb makers
  • detecting existing
  • developing detection
  • detection approaches
  • existing detection

  • data summaries
  • suicide bombing
  • typically results
  • positives offer
  • disparate data


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