Confidence of Indicators of Mine Presence

Indicators of mine presence and absence are the main objects on the scene that need to be detected and spatialy positioned for the purpose of conducting quality aerial non- technical survey of suspected hazardous areas (SHA). Detection of these indicators on the images of the observed scene and positioning of the existing indicators from the mine information system (MIS) enables creation of danger map. Danger map is the result of the fusion of all existing data about mine indicators. Experts of warfare and mining in a particular area can bring conclusions on potential areas that are contaminated by mines on the basis of danger maps. However, the possibility of recognition and extraction of mine presence indicators on aerial and satellite images greatly depends on the image quality and corresponding ground sampling distance, as well as contextual knowledge and experience of mine scene interpreter. Therefore, due to the fact that the experts draw conclusions about SHA based on position of indicators in space and their zones of influence on the environment, it is necessary to add a level of confidence (the level of reliability with which the interpreter evaluates its decision) for each extracted indicator. This information is essential for a more realistic appearance of danger map depending on the available data on the observed scene and from MIS. The confidence of the decision that has been detected and extracted indicator of mine presence affects the level of danger of an area on the danger map. Tools used to automatically extract indicators on the mine scene can be validated in this way. Validation is done based on the true data about mine scene. Internal validation can be carried out by an experienced interpreter of mine scene, while operational validation will be performed after demining of the observed scene.