U.S. researchers have found a new method that aids faster and more accurate radioactive material detection from the air.

​According to the University of Michigan Engineering and Paul Scherrer Institute study, the system is capable of accurately locating a radioactive source within 6.6 feet (two meters) and measuring its activity within two percentage points of its true value.

​The study demonstrated that, using a specialized physics-based math framework (Bayesian inference), the system could recognize both single and mixed radioactive sources during a six-second helicopter flyover equipped with airborne detectors.

​The research team recently conducted the first field test of the method in Switzerland.

They placed known radiological sources on the ground, including mixed sources, and later flew a military helicopter nearly 98.43 feet (30 meters) over it. The aircraft, installed with a radiation detector in the cargo bay area, detected the  identity, activity, and location of the radioactive source using the Bayesian method. The detection happened despite a weak and heavily distorted signal during a single-pass flyover, the study reported.

​Researchers noted that these detections were achieved within seconds, unlike the conventional techniques, which take hours or days to evaluate radiological emergencies.

​The stark reduction in response time, from hours or days to microseconds, was made possible by recognizing the physics happening in the backdrop of events rather than enhancing the computing power of the system, highlighted the lead author of the study.

​”I was surprised how much efficiency we could gain by reorganizing the physics rather than simply using more computing power,” said David Breitenmoser, a postdoctoral research fellow of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences at the University of Michigan.

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