Active and passive radar sensors for airport security

In this paper, a new concept for increasing the airport security is proposed. The proposed innovative system is studied and developed in the ATOM (Airport detection and Tracking Of dangerous Materials by active and passive sensors arrays) project, funded by the European Commission. It foresees the definition of a multi-sensor approach that integrates active and passive radar sensors with currently used surveillance systems. The conceived system covers not only the access to the gate area but also the terminal area, actually monitored mainly by Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), aiming at increasing the security level in that area. The enhanced capability of detecting and tracking dangerous tools and materials without passengers collaboration is another key point of ATOM concept. The fusion of data coming from the different innovative sensors aims at enhancing the situation awareness, thus allowing an automatic alert provided to security operators to neutralize the threat. This work is focused on some activities performed by SESM - a Finmeccanica Company - and DIET Dept. of University of Rome “La Sapienza”. Specifically, the overall architecture of ATOM system is described, together with an overview of the WiFi-based Passive Bistatic Radar (PBR) tracking sub-system.