DEVELOPMENT OF A DATABASE ON LUGGAGE MATERIALS TO FACILITATE DETECTION OF EXPLOSIVES

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A DATABASE OF MATERIALS COMMONLY FOUND IN LUGGAGE. THIS WOULD INCLUDE DATA ON WHAT TYPES OF ARTICLES ARE TYPICALLY FOUND IN LUGGAGE AND DATA ON THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THESE ARTICLES. THE DATABASE WOULD BE USED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NON-INTRUSIVE LUGGAGE ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES AND, ALSO, IN THEIR SUBSEQUENT APPLICATION IN AIRPORTS. IN THE DEVELOPMENT STAGE, THE DATABASE IS EXPECTED TO HELP ESTABLISH A TARGET ACCURACY AND RESOLUTION FOR THE DETECTION DEVICE. IN THE LATER APPLICATION OF THE DEVICE, THE LUGGAGE DATABASE WOULD HELP OPERATORS UNDERSTAND AND PREDICT THE RATES OF FALSE POSITIVE READINGS. THE PRESENT WORK ENTAILS A FEASIBILITY STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF APPROACHES FOR GATHERING THE REQUIRED DATA. THE FEASIBILITY STUDY WOULD DETERMINE WHETHER A DATABASE OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LUGGAGE ARTICLES WOULD ALLOW DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN THESE ARTICLES AND EXPLOSIVE DEVICES.