A new concept for buried antipersonnel mine (APM) detection is proposed. The detection system is based on a focused heat source and a contactless thermometer mounted on a suspended carriage scanning the ground surface. Presence of heat diffusivity anomalies (mine candidates) is assessed from anomalies in the surface temperature measured after the local heating.

After describing the structure of the proposed system, and the physical functioning principles, we discuss a case study, based on numerical simulations, which proves the feasibility of the device.

Main advantages of the system proposed are the simplicity of the equipment (that is cheap to realize, and easy to use, maintain and repair), and power efficiency.