Classifying Aircraft Categories from Magnetometry Data Using a Hypotheses-Based Multi-Task Framework.

Airport traffic surveillance requires reliable safety systems to prevent accidents in safety-critical areas. This paper examines airport aprons, where existing holding point protection systems have shown that they are sometimes not able to prevent accidents. One possible solution to this problem is the use of innovative sensor technology such as magnetometers. These sensors can be used to measure the distortion of the earth’s magnetic field by metallic objects. The main objective is to identify the geometrical pattern of a passing object by fusing coherent events, and classify it into a category based on its size. We propose a hypotheses-based multi-task framework for the classification of aircraft by making use of the estimated motion behaviour of a passing object. The framework includes statistical components, domain knowledge, and artificial intelligence solutions to infer the geometrical pattern and motion vector of an object from a predefined set of possible hypotheses. In future work, we aim to optimize the framework using synthetic and real-world data to increase its robustness and generalization ability to other airports.