M.A. / The aim of this study is to outline how the people of the Huambo province of Angola have been affected by the massive overuse of landmines in the area. The main objective of this report is to investigate how the destructive effects of war, jointly with a large number of mines,1 retard not only the rural development per se, but also the progressive life of the entire nation. This is due to the fact that large numbers of economically active people, who reside in the rural areas, are the major targets of landmine explosions. / none

This thesis presents a robust method for estimating the relaxations of a metallic object from its electromagnetic induction (EMI) response. The EMI response of a metallic object can be accurately modeled by a sum of real decaying exponentials. However, it is difficult to obtain the model parameters from measurements when the number of exponentials in the sum is unknown or the terms are strongly correlated. Traditionally, the relaxation constants are estimated by nonlinear iterative search that often leads to unsatisfactory results. An effective EMI modeling technique is developed by first linearizing the problem through enumeration and then solving the linearized model using a sparsity-regularized minimization. This approach overcomes several long-standing challenges in EMI signal modeling, including finding the unknown model order as well as handling the ill-posed nature of the problem. The resulting algorithm does not require a good initial guess to converge to a satisfactory solution. This new modeling technique is extended to incorporate multiple measurements in a single parameter estimation step. More accurate estimates are obtained by exploiting an invariance property of the EMI response, which states that the relaxation frequencies do not change for different locations and orientations of a metallic object. Using tests on synthetic data and laboratory measurement of known targets, the proposed multiple-measurement method is shown to provide accurate and stable estimates of the model parameters. The ability to estimate the relaxation constants of targets enables more robust subsurface target discrimination using the relaxations. A simple relaxation-based subsurface target detection algorithm is developed to demonstrate the potential of the estimated relaxations.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The end of the Cold War had a profound impact on the qualitative and quantitative nature of the UN's peace and security agenda, representing a shift from traditional peacekeeping to a broader, more ambitious and intrusive notion of peacekeeping. This evolution was marked by an expanded UN engagement in a broad range of intra-state conflicts and characterised by UN undertakings towards aspects of national political and socio-economic reconstruction including the evolution of humanitarian action. Responding to the expanded United Nations agenda for international peace and security and at the request of the UN Security Council (UNSC) Boutros Boutros-Ghali prepared the conceptual foundations of the UN's role in global peace and security in his seminal report, An Agenda for Peace (July, 1992). The Secretary General outlined five inter-connected roles that he projected the UN would play in the fast changing context of post-Cold War international politics, namely: preventive diplomacy, peace enforcement, peacemaking, peacekeeping and post-conflict peacebuilding. The UNSG described the newly defined concept of post-conflict peacebuilding as action organised "(to) foster economic and social co-operation with the purpose of developing the social, political and economic infrastructure to prevent future violence, and laying the foundations for a durable peace." With specific reference to landmines in An Agenda for Peace the UNSG stressed that peacebuilding following civil war and internal strife must address the serious problem of landmines, which remained scattered in present or former combat zones. The UNSG underscored that mine action (demining) should be emphasised in terms of reference of peacekeeping operations which is crucially important in the restoration of activity when peacebuilding is under way. The United Nations involvement in the Mozambican peace process (1992-1995) has been interpreted as the culmination of a major success story in wider peacekeeping in Africa under UN auspices - a category of peace operation, which included peacemaking, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding and electoral assistance. Mozambique's peace process has subsequently been cited as a model UN peacekeeping operation which could be adapted to post-conflict situation elsewhere. Within the context of landmines as a threat to post-conflict peacebuilding as articulated by the UNSG in An Agenda for Peace, the study focuses on how the United Nations implemented mine action initiatives in operationalising the concept of peacebuilding in Mozambique. In this context, the study reviews the UN operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) and its capacity, responsiveness and vision in implementing mine action initiatives, both in terms of the operational requirements of the ONUMOZ peacekeeping mission and the development oflonger-term humanitarian mine action programmes in Mozambique. To this end, the study views the establishment of a sustainable indigenous mine action capacity as a sine que non for post -conflict peacebuilding. From this perspective, the study interprets the 1999 Mine Ban Treaty Prohibiting the Use, Stockpile, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction and the rights and obligations of Mozambique as a State Party to the Treaty as the most appropriate instrument towards the creation of an indigenous Mozambican mine action capacity to address the long-term effects oflandmines on post-conflict peacebuilding. In terms of methodology the approach was historical-analytical and in essence a deductive method of research was followed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die einde van die Koue Oorlog het diepgaande verandering teweeggebring ten opsigte van die Verenigde Nasies se vredes en sekuriteits regime ter handhawing van internasionale vrede en sekuriteit. Hierdie periode is gekenmerk deur 'n skerp toename in intra-staatlike konflikte en gevolglik in die kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe aard en omvang van Verenigde Nasies vredesoperasies in terme van die VN Handves. Ten einde die verantwoordelikhede van die Verenigde Nasies met betrekking tot die handhawing van vrede en sekuriteit in die snel - veranderende konteks van die post - Koue Oorlog periode aan te spreek, het die Sekretaris - Generaal van die Verenigde Nasies, Boutros Boutros - Gali, in opdrag van die Veiligheidsraad die konseptuele fundering van die VN se rol verwoord in sy pioniersverslag - Agenda vir Vrede (1992). In sy verslag van Julie 1992 identifiseer en omskryf die Sekretaris-Generaal vyf verbandhoudende konsepte wat sou dien as meganismes ter beslegting van internasionale konflik, naamlik voorkomende diplomasie (preventive diplomacy), vredesingryping (peace enforcement), maak van vrede (peacemaking), vredesoperasies (peacekeeping) en post-konflik vredeskonsolidasie (post-conflict peacebuilding). Die Sekretaris-Generaal het post-konflik vredeskonsolidasie omskryf as die "vestiging van sosio-ekonomiese samewerking met die oogmerk om die sosiale, politieke en ekonomiese infrastruktuur te ontwikkel ten einde hernude konflik te voorkom en ter grondlegging van langdurige vrede". Met spesifieke verwysing na die korrelasie tussen landmyne en post-konflik vredeskonsolidasie het die Sekretaris-Generaal benadruk dat landmyne 'n bedreiging inhou vir die konsolidasie van vrede na burgeroorlog en interne konflik, en veral binne die raamwerk van 'n VN vredesoperasie in terme van 'n VN Veiligheidsraad mandaat. Die VN se vredesrol in Mosambiek word allerweë beskou as een van die mees suksesvolle VN vredesoperasies ooit. Die doel van die studie is gevolglik om ondersoek in te stel na die toepassing van die konsep van post-konflik vredeskonsolidasie met spesifieke verwysing na die Mosambiekse vredesproses en die rol van die Verenigde Nasies se Operasie in Mosambiek (ONUMOZ). In die opsig fokus die studie spesifiek op die rol van ONUMOZ (1992-1995) en suksesse en tekortkomings in sy vredesmandaat ten opsigte van die implementering van aksies om die kort-en-langtermyn impak van landmyne in terme van post-konflik vredeskonsolidasie in Mosambiek aan te spreek. Vanuit hierdie konteks, vertolk die studie die Landmyn Verdrag (1999) en die totale verbod op die aanwending, opgaar, produksie en oordrag van landmyne en die vernietiging daarvan as die mees geskikte raamwerk waarbinne Mosambiek 'n inheemse vermoë tot stand kan bring ten einde die langtermyn impak van landmyne op post-konflik vredeskonsolidasie effektief aan te spreek. Vanuit 'n metodologiese oogpunt word in hierdie studie histories analities te werk gegaan en die benadering is beskrywend - verklarend van aard. Verder is die metode van ondersoek in wese deduktief van aard.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Landmines continue to be a threat to both military and civilian communities throughout the world. Current methods of detection, while better than nothing, could certainly be improved. Seismic SONAR is a promising new technology that may help save countless lives. The goal of this thesis was to advance Seismic SONAR development by introducing a mobile source which could be easily used in practical applications. A small tracked vehicle with dual inertial mass shakers mounted on top was used for a source. The source accurately transmitted the shaker signal into the ground, and its mobility made it a practical choice for field operations. It excited Rayleigh waves, as desired, but also generated undesirable P-waves and was not found to be directional. It proved incapable of finding a target. Improvements, such as a deploying an array of mobile sources and a stronger source, should vastly enhance the performance of such tracked vehicles in seismic SONAR mine detection and should be pursued. / Ensign, United States Navy

Landmines have inflicted an insurmountable amount of physical and psychological harm, inhibiting social and economic development far after the conflict has ended. In an effort to create a world free of the weapon, a campaign to ban landmines was launched by non-governmental organizations. The Mine Ban Convention entered into force in 1999, requiring nation-states to immediately ban the use, production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines (APLs), destroy stockpiles within four years and remove landmines already planted within ten years. This study examines the level of legal compliance with the Mine Ban Convention. An empirical analysis is conducted using a data base constructed from reports published by the Landmine Monitor. This study finds that the treaty is a successful work in progress with a majority of Parties in compliance; 44 million stockpiled APLs have been destroyed and eleven states have completed mine clearance. 170 million stockpiled APLs and countless emplaced mines remain, indicating the world is still far from the goal of a mine-free world. / by Jacqueline C. Perez. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Whenever a new sensor or system comes online, engineers and analysts responsible for processing the measured data turn first to methods that are tried and true on existing systems. This is a natural, if not wholly logical approach, and is exactly what has happened in the advent of hyperspectral imagery (HSI) exploitation. However, a closer look at the assumptions made by the approaches published in the literature has not been undertaken. This thesis analyzes three key aspects of HSI exploitation: statistical data modeling, covariance estimation from training data, and dimension reduction. These items are part of standard processing schemes, and it is worthwhile to understand and quantify the impact that various assumptions for these items have on target detectability and detection statistics. First, the accuracy and applicability of the standard Gaussian (i.e., Normal) model is evaluated, and it is shown that the elliptically contoured t-distribution (EC-t) sometimes offers a better statistical model for HSI data. A finite mixture approach for EC-t is developed in which all parameters are estimated simultaneously without a priori information. Then the effects of making a poor covariance estimate are shown by including target samples in the training data. Multiple test cases with ground targets are explored. They show that the magnitude of the deleterious effect of covariance contamination on detection statistics depends on algorithm type and target signal characteristics. Next, the two most widely used dimension reduction approaches are tested. It is demonstrated that, in many cases, significant dimension reduction can be achieved with only a minor loss in detection performance. In addition, a concise development of key HSI detection algorithms is presented, and the state-of-the-art in adaptive detectors is benchmarked for land mine targets. Methods for detection and identification of airborne gases using hyperspectral imagery are discussed, and this application is highlighted as an excellent opportunity for future work.

More and more, international lawyers are confronted to the phenomenon of increasing number of Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) on the international scene, which is seldom studied by them. Traditionally, the participation of NGOs in international negotiations has been examined from the functioning of their relations between them and international organizations. Their increasing participation in international negotiation forums however, raises the question of their influence on the preparation of legal texts adopted by States. This study tries to review those two aspects of their influence by noting the evolutions of their participation, identifying their successes and their failures and trying to explain them. Based on the study of four negotiating processes on scientific and technical instruments, this study has the double purpose of contributing to international law by increasing knowledge about this poorly understood question of the normative influence of international actors, and to give to NGOs some leads for a better action from a legal point a view.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-152). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

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