Stand-Off Detection and Tracking of Concealed Weapons Using Magnetic Tensor Tracking. Final Activities Report April 1998 - December 2000

摘要

Because the great majority of firearms and most other weapons incorporate ferrous metals, magnetic detection technology has a wide range of possible applications for law enforcement, corrections, and general security. Ferrous metals distort the Earth's magnetic field in two ways: (1) They are magnetically permeable, which means that they distort the Earth's natural magnetic field. (2) Some ferrous objects possess a permanent magnetic moment that creates its own magnetic field. In either case, the measurement of the Earth's field can detect the presence of such objects without the need actively to generate an illuminating or probing field of one's own. In some cases, such a passive detection modality can provide security when Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search preclude the use of active modalities. In discussions with the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Quantum Magnetics (QM) reviewed possible applications of passive magnetic detection to law enforcement. NIJ determined that a major safety threat to law enforcement personnel could be mitigated by a successful application of the technology.