Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing XXV

SPIE’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing XXV Conference will be held 22-25 April 2024 in National Harbor, Maryland.

This conference provides an unprecedented forum for authors from government, industry, and academia to address a wide variety of CBRNE sensing issues, technologies, and advances in algorithms and signal process of threat related scenarios.

The sensing of CBRNE hazards is important to obtain “real-time” answers that allow actionable decisions to be made on-the-spot; to reduce the logistical burden by moving the analysis closer to the source of the sample; to rapidly screen materials to identify samples that need to be sent to a lab for additional analysis while minimizing the number of these samples; and to nondestructively analyze large, valuable, or immovable objects for which sampling is not possible.

Furthermore, defense communities around the world are increasingly interested in offloading forward decision making and analysis from soldiers to software, which increases the need for more robust and accurate signal processing development to enable greater trust in detection outputs as the trend towards autonomous sensing continues. A strong reliance of CBRNE forensics is also required to enable attribution of these threats, ideally in situ. In addition to protecting against battlefield CBRNE threats, there is an increasing demand to protect borders and ports from the emergent threats of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), homemade explosives (HMEs), nuclear devices, radiological dispersal devices, and illicit narcotics. New and sophisticated radiation detection systems are also required for better protection of military personnel and civilians from radiological threats.

All of these sensor technologies are supported by advances in algorithms for sensor signal and data processing, including sensor fusion, machine learning/artificial intelligence.

Highlighted topics include:

• Biothreat detection and identification using a carbon nanotube capture and containment array and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
• Rapid detection of bioaerosol by measuring single particle differential circular polarization scattering (CIDS)
• Condensation-based growth of nanoparticles for real-time inertial-based capture and biothreat sensing
• Biolayer interferometry as a biological detection platform
• Detection of microorganisms in drinking water using fluorescence spectroscopy
• Optical constants measurements of liquids for modeling aerosolized threats
• Aerosol release tracking via optical barcodes: aerosol sensor testing ground truth
• Aerosol mass spectrometer for aerosol characterization at the ambient aerosol test facility
• Evaluation of emerging sensors to detect chemical exposure for food protection
• Improving Raman stand-off distance for the detection of chemical warfare agents

Conference Committee Members include:

• Jason A. Guicheteau, DEVCOM Chemical Biological Ctr
• Christopher R. Howle, Defence Science and Technology Lab
• Tanya L. Myers, Pacific Northwest National Lab
• Christopher C. Carter, Johns Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Lab., LLC
• Augustus W. Fountain, Univ. of South Carolina
• Timothy J. Johnson, Pacific Northwest National Lab
• Lars Landström, FOI-Swedish Defence Research Agency
• Aaron LaPointe, U.S. Army CCDC C5ISR Ctr. Night Vision & Electronic Sensors Directorate
• Tyler Miller, Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Paul M. Pellegrino, DEVCOM Army Research Lab.
• Sherrie S. Pilkington, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
• Nathaniel R. Gomer, The Pennsylvania State Univ.

The conference track is part of the larger SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing 2024 event. Please visit the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing XXV website for more information.