By Calvin Biesecker
AMSTERDAM–Security officials at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol here in the Netherlands like the results they’ve obtained so far in a three-year old pilot test of an active millimeter wave whole body imaging system as a primary screening portal for checkpoint security.
The ProVision system, supplied by L-3 Communications [LLL], costs about the same to operate as the traditional metal detectors and is preferred by passengers, Gunther van Adrichem, project manager for research and development within the Security Policy and Projects division at the airport, told reporters here during a recent visit.
Passengers rarely complain about the use of the system, which is also being pilot tested in U.S. airports, both in primary and secondary screening applications, believing that it enhances aviation safety and is less intrusive than pat down searches, Adrichem said. He also said that Muslim flight crews prefer the imaging system versus pat down searches.
The imaging system does have a relatively high false alarm rate, 50 to 60 percent, primarily due to people not divesting their coins and other materials from their pants and shirt pockets, Adrichem said.
Still, there’s a positive side to what the whole body imager can detect.
“We can find more and smaller stuff,” Adrichem said. L-3 is working on advanced detection algorithms that as early as this year would permit automatic detection of items on a person rather than relying solely on operator analysis of images, he said. However, he doesn’t believe that in the near term that the system will be able to provide materials discrimination or permit a simple go, no-go for each passenger.
“The technology [for that] doesn’t exist,” Adrichem said.
The screening system also passes the test of the airport’s security operations manager.
“I like it very much” for both the security aspect and the passenger throughput, Hans Geerdink, duty manager for security within the Business Area Aviation division at the airport, told sister publication TR2.
Throughput for the system is averaging 3.5 passengers per minute versus four persons for metal detectors, including clearance times for the scanned individuals. Security officials believe throughput can be improved once passengers become more familiar with the screening procedures and divest themselves of items that the system operator would see on a remote display, which would lower the false alarm rates, said Miro Jerkovic, senior manager for research and development within the Security Policy and Projects division at the airport.
Schiphol has 17 ProVision systems, 15 of which are being used in screening operations, including one for employee screening, and two for test and evaluation.
Despite using the ProVision for several years and being pleased with the results, security officials at Schiphol are barred from expanding the use of imaging system to more checkpoints due to legal restrictions in the country. The Netherlands parliament could take up the issue as early as this fall once elections are over this summer and a new government is formed. Schiphol has 200 security checkpoints.
At the checkpoints, Schiphol still relies on older X-ray systems to screen carry on bags. The machines are supplied by Smiths Detection. The airport is evaluating Smith’s 6040 aTiX Advanced Technology X-Ray system at a single checkpoint lane. The evaluation is ongoing and it will “be some time” before any switch out of AT machines for current X-Ray systems occurs, Adrichem said.
The particular 6040 aTiX system being evaluated employs Smith’s iLane concept, which enables a suspect bag to be automatically diverted away from a passenger to a separate belt system after exiting the machine for additional screening. At Schiphol, once a suspect bag is diverted, a separate security officer takes additional time to examine the X-ray image to determine whether further action is required. Smiths said that the iLane permits more efficient operations because a bag doesn’t have to be put through the machine for another scan. The iLane also features an automatic bin return system that was in use at the airport.
Smith’s and OSI Systems [OSIS] are currently supplying AT X-ray systems to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The TSA has been hopeful that this year the AT X-ray systems would be able to begin automatically detecting if liquids and gels are stored in carry-on bags. In his opinion, Adrichem said the “vendor quality is not there” yet on liquid detection. There is still a “way to go” to get those detection algorithms in place this year, he said.
Schiphol is fifth largest airport in Europe in terms of passenger traffic air cargo transportation. The security contingent numbers around 4,000 individuals, all but 120 of whom are employees of the airport. Most security agents work for private security firms.
Schiphol relies heavily on behavior detection techniques as well. Jerkovic estimated that about one-third of the security agents at the airport are trained in behavior detection techniques. When international passengers arrive and clear immigration, the next stop is customs. Some passengers are asked to declare any goods and others aren’t stopped at all. Instead, the airport relies on behavior detection to decide whether to detain someone for further questioning.
The airport is in the midst of a two-phase upgrade of its security management systems that will expand from its use of 1,000 security cameras, both day and infrared sensors, to between 3,000 and 4,000, Jerkovic said. The cameras include the installation of license plate readers. The airport is also installing other sensors such as acoustic, motion, and even using heart rate monitors to detect the presence of someone. Bosch supplies the video management system at Schiphol.
Schiphol expects to soon begin at least two security technology pilot projects for the European Union. One will involve the use of intelligent video for the “Detection of Abnormal Behavior in Crowded Spaces,” he said. The goal of this system is to automate the detection of abnormal behavior, he said.
The behavior detection project, which goes by the acronym ADABTS, will last four years and is funded at $5.2 million. The project will begin with fundamental research and conclude with delivery of working technology, Jerkovic said.
In June another project will get underway related to the development of passive sensors for automatic stand-off detection. This project, called ATOM, is also funded by the European Commission for $6.5 million.