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Engineering Aviation Security Environments—Reduction of False Alarms in Computed Tomography-Based Screening of Checked Baggage (2013) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
Pages 12-16

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From page 12...
... For aviation security applications, the transmitted x-rays are reconstructed into a three-dimensional image of the scanned bag, and software algorithms (see the subsection entitled "Automated Threat Recognition" in Chapter 2 of this report) are applied to that image to estimate the material properties of the items within the bag and to compare those estimated properties to a set of criteria defined by the TSA for explosive threat items.
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From page 13...
... The committee recommendations will also bear in mind any risk of increased missed detection. Although the TSA recognized that false alarm rates for CT-based EDSs in an airport setting could be substantially higher than the false alarm rates measured in certification testing (see the section entitled "Testing at the Transportation Security Laboratory" in Chapter 2)
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From page 14...
... The overall false alarm rate includes two distinct "populations" of bags, each of which would require a different approach in order to reduce false alarm rates: • The first population includes bags for which the EDS cannot make a decision -- so-called "exceptions," such as bags containing solid objects that cannot be penetrated by the EDS x-rays, mistracked bags, and bags that are poorly positioned in the EDS in such a way that the EDS cannot interrogate the entire bag ("cut bags")
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From page 15...
... REPORT STRUCTURE Following the report Summary -- which includes key conclusions, findings, and recommendations from the chapters of the report -- and the background provided in this introductory chapter, Chapter 2 presents an overview of CT-based EDSs and their integration in the airport setting. Chapter 3 discusses possible alternative approaches to false alarm reduction in the field: the use of multiple CT scans to improve the probability of detection, the use of mass spectrometry, x-ray diffraction technology, and the effective use of orthogonal technologies.
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From page 16...
... Appendixes B, C, and D, by individual committee members, are independently authored papers with the endorsement of the rest of the committee. Appendix B outlines an approach to quantifying the risk and causes of false alarm scenarios associated with the airport screening of checked baggage.
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Key Terms

  • false alarm
  • alarm rate
  • transportation security
  • overall false
  • resolving false

  • alarm reduction
  • aviation security
  • security administration
  • checked baggage
  • threat items

  • subsection entitled
  • reduce false
  • false negatives
  • alarm rates
  • national safe

  • security act
  • potential threat
  • committee heard
  • safe skies
  • missed detections

  • includes bags
  • hard data
  • scanned bag
  • airport setting
  • bags scanned

  • skies alliance
  • population includes
  • lower false
  • evaluating false
  • false positives


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