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Keeping it secure
Airport Cities - Jul 31, 2008
Confronting airport security challenges with highly manueverable and mobile inspection technology
In the early summer of 2007, two men filled their dark
green SUV with propane canisters. The driver pushed the
accelerator to full speed and the vehicle careened toward
Glasgow Airport’s main terminal. Witnesses watched as
the fiery SUV crashed into the terminal doors.
Fortunately, the attempted attack last June ended
without harm to bystanders, but the event did serve to
focus attention even more urgently on the threat posed
by improvised and vehicle-borne explosive attacks,
as well as varied other threats, at airport facilities.
Today, security officials around the world prepare and
rehearse for this kind of critical security scenario.
As one aviation security expert, Mark Denari, Director
of Aviation Security and Public Safety for the San
Diego California Regional Airport Authority, told the
February 2008 Advanced Technologies for Airport
Security Conference: “The threat of a vehicle-borne
explosive is real, and we’re burying our heads in
the sand if we think something like Oklahoma City
couldn’t happen to us,” referring to the April 1995
truck bombing and destruction of a U.S. government
office building.
The challenge facing airport security officials is an
immense one - securing areas that are measured in sq
km, such as the world’s largest airport, set to be built
in Dubai, at 140 sq km. The busiest airports with the
highest volume of passengers receive over a hundred
thousand people and vehicles passing through their
gates, parking lots, garages and buildings each day.
Clearly, detecting threats under these conditions
presents special and demanding security challenges.
What’s needed, according to almost all of the experts
at the February 2008 Airport Security Conference, is a
renewed focus in the way airport officials think about
security -and the technology they use to make their
facilities secure.
Events such as those in Glasgow have highlighted
the need for systems to detect organic threats,
such as car bombs, efficiently and effectively. One
such system is the Z Backscatter Van™ (ZBV) from
American Science and Engineering, Inc. The Z
Backscatter Van is a fully mobile screening system
that can detect a wide range of potential threats,
such as vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices,
nuclear weapons of mass destruction (WMD),
stowaways and more. The ZBV is specially designed
to address the multiple threats posed in challenging
environments like an airport with multiple layers of
security and terrain such as parking garages, lots,
buildings, and terminals.
Unique technology
At the heart of the Z Backscatter Van is Z Backscatter
technology, which is able to detect the kind of organic
materials that do not show up well in traditional
transmission X-ray images - including explosives and
plastic weapons.
Z Backscatter technology works by detecting “low Z”
materials (materials that contain low atomic numbers),
such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. By
directing a sweeping beam of X-rays at an object,
and then diagnosing the intensity of scattered Xrays,
Z Backscatter produces instantaneous, photolike
images that clearly highlight hidden materials,
making it easy for operators to identify potential
security threats.
Maneuverable and versatile
The ZBV is a commercial delivery vehicle equipped
with a Z Backscatter inspection system. With no need
for a detector on the far side of an object, the selfcontained
ZBV is extremely maneuverable, immediately
deployable and versatile, allowing it to be deployed in
tight spaces, such as parking garages and lots.
Successfully deployed in harsh environments
around the world, the ZBV has been integral for
counterterrorism operations, for port and border
protection, in securing military and government
facilities and for local law enforcement agencies. A
multinational forces’ report released in 2005 reported
that Iraqi police commandos, using a ZBV, successfully
detected a car bomb at a traffic checkpoint.
The Z Backscatter Van can operate in multiple modes
to meet different inspection requirements. In drive-by
mode, the system is able to provide images of objects
while the system itself is moving. When mobile, the
ZBV can scan a suspicious or abandoned vehicle in
less than 15 seconds.
The system’s mobility makes it ideal for a wide range
of aviation security applications. For instance, the
ZBV can be used to screen vehicles and other objects
along an airport’s perimeter, since it has the ability
to produce images through dense foliage or other
potential hiding places to reveal people or other
threats. Likewise, a person hiding in a car, dumpster,
or lightly constructed building can be seen in the
system’s images. It also can be deployed to screen
vehicles on a taxiway, such as catering or fuel trucks,
for vehicle-borne bombs or hidden persons.
In stationary mode, with the system parked, the ZBV
can be used to produce X-ray images of vehicles as
they pass the ZBV to enter airport property, such as
when they enter a garage, parking lot, or the airport
entrance itself.
In high-threat areas, the ZBV can also be operated
remotely from up to 500 meters. And, when equipped
with optional Radioactive Threat Detection technology,
the ZBV is capable of identifying low levels of
radioactivity of both gamma rays from potential dirty
bombs and neutrons from fissionable materials.
Of course, surveillance and protection of a facility as
large and complex as a major airport is a complicated,
multifaceted process. But the flexibility and versatility
of the Z Backscatter Van can meet several of the
challenges that face security officials today.
By Robert Goodhouse
Vice President
American Science and Engineering, Inc.