Data acquisition and analysis of the UNCOSS underwater explosive neutron sensor
- CEA, DEN, Cadarache, Nuclear Measurement Laboratory, F-13108 Saint-Paul-lez-Durance (France)
- CEA, LIST, Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
The purpose of the FP7 UNCOSS project (Underwater Coastal Sea Surveyor, http://www.uncoss-project.org) is to develop a neutron-based underwater explosive sensor to detect unexploded ordnance lying on the sea bottom. The Associated Particle Technique is used to focus the inspection on a suspicious object located by optical and electromagnetic sensors and to determine if there is an explosive charge inside. This paper presents the data acquisition electronics and data analysis software which have been developed for this project. The electronics digitize and process the signal in real-time based on a field programmable gate array structure to perform precise time-of-flight and gamma-ray energy measurements. UNCOSS software offers the basic tools to analyze the time-of-flight and energy spectra of the interrogated object. It allows to unfold the gamma-ray spectrum into pure elemental count proportions, mainly C, N, O, Fe, Al, Si, and Ca. The C, N, and O count fractions are converted into chemical proportions by taking into account the gamma-ray production cross sections, as well as neutron and photon attenuation in the different shields between the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) and the explosive, such as the explosive iron shell, seawater, and ROV envelop. These chemical ratios are plotted in a two-dimensional (2D) barycentric representation to position the measured point with respect to common explosives. The systematic uncertainty due to the above attenuation effects and counting statistical fluctuations are combined with a Monte Carlo method to provide a 3D uncertainty area in a barycentric plot, which allows to determine the most probable detected materials in view to make a decision about the presence of explosive. (authors)
- OSTI ID:
- 22039799
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ANIMMA 2011: 2. International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation, Measurement Methods and their Applications, Ghent (Belgium), 6-9 Jun 2011; Other Information: Country of input: France; 17 refs.; IEEE Catalog Number: CFP1124I-CDR
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ALUMINIUM
ATTENUATION
CALCIUM
COMPUTER CODES
CROSS SECTIONS
DATA ACQUISITION
DATA ANALYSIS
ENERGY SPECTRA
EXPLOSIVES
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
IRON
MONTE CARLO METHOD
NEUTRON DETECTION
PHOTONS
SEAWATER
SENSORS
SIGNALS
SILICON
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
UNDERWATER