Superconducting Magnetic Tensor Gradiometer System for Detection of Underwater Military Munitions
Abstract
There may be as many as one million acres of the marine environment that are potentially contaminated by UXO. These environments vary significantly with respect to water depth, sea floor morphology, and geologic regimes. Current deployment modes place sensors 1 to 2 m above the sea floor, restricting detection capabilities, equivalent to that of airborne platforms in terrestrial applications. In this report we describe the development of a High Temperature Superconducting Tensor Gradiometer (HTSTG). The system has inherently higher sensitivity and immunity to external noise than conventional magnetic sensor systems, thus improving detection performance in the difficult marine environment. The system also has enhanced characterization abilities as the location and magnetic moment of a target can be determined definitively by gradient tensor measurements at a few locations along a profile. This characteristic provides a significant advantage in the marine environment, which is difficult to regularly sample due to the effects of wind, waves and currents on the tow-vessel or deployment platform.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA579146
Entities
People
- Stephen Billings
Organizations
- Sky Research