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The presentation reports of using two different small hyperspectral cameras in two full-length operational field exercises with CWA/TIC scenarios. The first exercise was carried out as a response to a simulated sarin attack at an airport, the other a simulated chlorine attack was carried out with a vehicle in the middle of a small town. The first exercise was led by military forces in Greece and the other by rescue service and defence forces in Finland. The motivation for testing hyperspectral cameras in these exercises was to gain through authentic operation information of the usability and performance of small cameras in mission critical situations in highly toxic environments.
The two exercises were carried out with simulants, and several different technologies were used and tested during the same operations. In one of the exercises, hyperspectral camera was used for detecting simulated agent in the hot zone inside of an airport hall and outside for screening exposed devices at the decontamination station of equipment. In the other exercise, hyperspectral camera was at first used from a distant location outside of hot zone for detecting and alerting for a toxic release that was caused by a colliding vehicle. After the casualties were evacuated, hyperspectral camera was also used for screening the van that caused the hazardous incident.
The exercises show that in some parts of a full-length CBRNE rescue operation there is particular advantage of using small hyperspectral cameras. Applicable usage can be found during the whole life cycle of the incident. Accuracy and speed are adjustable and dependent of the settings of the software and camera. Compared with other technologies, hyperspectral technology is potentially able to detect same agents and can also offer some additional advantages like remote detection that other technologies cannot do.
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