Heat Transfer for NDE: Landmine Detection

Although land mine problems existed in many regions, Bosnia (1995) and Afghanistan (2001) gave the land mine issue a particular sense of urgency. Intended for warfare, these mines remain buried after the end of the conflict. These mines are triggered by civilians causing around 15,000-20,000 victims per year in 90 countries, ICBL (2006). The U.S. State Department estimates that there are around 40-50 million of buried mines that need to be cleared. According to Horowitz (1996) 100,000 mines are found and destroyed per year; thus 450 years will be necessary to clean all mines. However, each year, 1.9 million of new mines are buried. In addition, the presence of mines also causes economic decline being one of the major limitations to agricultural work on these regions, Cameron & Lawson (1998). Thus, it is necessary to develop new techniques which allow to detect mines quickly and with high precision. The Ottawa treaty, Ottawa (1997), banning the production and use of AP mines was signed by 158 countries in 2007 however the most important AP manufacturers, China, Russia, India and EE.UU, have not yet signed it. Nowadays more than 350 types of mines exist, Vines & Thompson (1999); but they can be broadly divided into two main categories: