ALIS (Advanced Landmine Imaging System)
A Japanese-made mine detector developed by Professor Motoyuki Sato of Tohoku University. It is a dual sensor combining a metal detector with ground-penetrating radar (GPR): the radar turns the underground objects picked up by the metal detector into images that can be checked on a screen. Through JICA's cooperation, it has been used at CMAC for many years.
Uses
By letting the operator check the shape of a detected object as an image on the screen, it helps judge whether the object is a mine or just a metal fragment. Besides its use at CMAC worksites, eight experts from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) received training in operating ALIS in Cambodia in January 2023.
Features
ALIS stands for "Advanced Landmine Imaging System" and combines the functions of a metal detector and ground-penetrating radar. Its distinctive feature is that the radar produces an image of the object detected by the metal detector, letting the deminer see what is underground before digging.
Advantages
Conventional metal detectors react to every piece of metal, and each signal had to be dug up and checked. Because ALIS lets deminers tell objects apart by image, its developer Professor Sato says it enables far faster and more efficient detection than conventional detectors.
Challenges
Operating it requires training, and JICA and CMAC have built up a step-by-step training system for developing instructors. Efforts are under way to pass on the operational know-how established in Cambodia to other mine-affected countries such as Ukraine.