Adapting Data Fusion to Chemical and Biological Sensors

This chapter provides background information on the challenges and issues related to detection and identi cation of biological pathogens and chemical agents in the environment. Although laboratory-based methods can be used for effective identi cation, these techniques are generally unusable for rst responders in a eld environment, because they require signi cant time and expertise of a laboratory technician. The chapter introduces the issues and challenges in detection and identi cation, and also the concept of using strategies based on biological entities. In particular, an approach using multiple sensors and a fuzzy logic inference procedure is used to mimic how insects detect and characterize biochemical agents. The resulting data fusion technique provides effective detection and identi cation of complex chemical and biological agents in real-world environments.