SIGMA+: UK-US Collaboration for Safer Urban Living with Advanced Sensor Tech

Recently, the UK and the US have been working on a system designed to detect airborne hazards around developed areas, such as towns and cities, with the goal of providing an early warning system against chemical, biological, and nuclear compounds. What dangers do technological advances present, what did the collaboration produce, and how could such systems help other engineering projects?

What challenges do technological advancements present?

There is no doubt that improvements in technology over the past 100 years have had a massive effect on the planet and the quality of life for individuals. While large-scale poverty and lack of access to basic needs still exist for a large proportion of the planet, concerns such as access to food have quickly diminished thanks to large-scale farming practices, improving the distribution of wealth, and mass consumption, which helps to lower prices of goods. For those in developed countries, technological advancements have accelerated the ability to discover new medical treatments, extend life significantly, create new materials, develop renewable energies, and even potentially bring back extinct life. 

However, as technology becomes more accessible, so does the nature of new threats. Improvements in manufacturing, rapid prototyping, and sensor technologies enable individuals to do what researchers and engineers struggled to do a decade or two earlier. This means that chemical, biological, and nuclear compounds that would otherwise be too difficult to obtain are now more readily accessible. Thus, the risk of more complex attacks (such as nuclear terrorism) has significantly increased, and there are currently no systems in place to provide an early warning system.

While mass sensor systems do exist (being particularly ideal for smart cities monitoring pollution and traffic), there are a number of challenges that engineers face when trying to implement an early warning system against these evolving threats. By far, the most difficult challenge is developing sensors that can detect trace amounts of biological, chemical, and nuclear compounds.

Of the three, chemical is likely easier to detect as sensors with specific chemical receptors can be developed. Biological compounds can be trickier to detect as electronically distinguishing between two different viruses is hard without a specialised receptor that binds to a specific protein. Nuclear is also difficult to detect in trace amounts as it would likely be identified as being background radiation unless a spectrometer is used to identify the specific element as opposed to just detecting the presence of radioactive decay. 

UK and US collaborate on advanced sensor system for new threats

Recognising the challenges faced by modern society and the need for new early warning systems, the US and UK have recently been collaborating to develop a new advanced detection system for populated areas. The program, called SIGMA+, aims to detect chemical, biological, nuclear, and explosive threats by sensing trace amounts of compounds, and a cloud-based system called DTECT is able to gather the data collected from sensors, process this data, and generate alarms for authorities.

According to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), which led the unique trial on behalf of the UK Home Office and the Department for Transport, "It’s been great to collaborate with our American colleagues and our US and UK technology providers. After two years of not being able to meet or carry out joint research, it’s been a great achievement to finally get this trial out in the field and I have no doubt we have gathered valuable data. The trial has enabled us to understand the maturity of the sensors as they are developed, and assess how they perform in a UK city. The results have shown the sensors worked well in London, and the experience gained operating them has shown us where development should focus in the future."

The collaboration with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and their project partners is incredibly valuable as it provides the UK with access to emerging technology developments. Dstl has been able to share its technical expertise to help shape the development of the system and provide an independent assessment of its readiness through testing. This provides the UK with key information that could help to shape future policy and the next steps in development and exploitation.

With regards to the sensing technologies used, the new system utilises Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) for detecting chemicals, conductive polymer sensors for also detecting chemicals, mass spectrometry for detecting and identifying chemicals, Raman spectroscopy to detect bacteria and viruses, and rapid sequencing for detecting bacteria and viruses. Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is a technique that separates ionized molecules based on their mobility in a carrier gas under an electric field. This allows for rapid and sensitive detection of volatile organic compounds, making it particularly suitable for monitoring chemical threats. Despite its advantages, IMS can be susceptible to interference from atmospheric contaminants, which requires careful calibration and optimisation of the system to minimise false positives or negatives (Source).

“It’s been great to collaborate with our American colleagues and our US and UK technology providers. After two years of not being able to meet or carry out joint research, it’s been a great achievement to finally get this trial out in the field, and I have no doubt we have gathered valuable data. The trial has enabled us to understand the maturity of the sensors as they are developed and assess how they perform in a UK city. The results have shown the sensors worked well in London, and the experience gained operating them has shown us where development should focus in the future.” – Lead of DSTL.

Partners involved in the project include:

1. Physical Sciences Inc. (Andover, MA, USA) – IMS technologies and DTECT data fusion
2. Smiths Detection (Watford, UK) – Advanced IMS (AIMS) sensor, IMS technologies
3. Bayspec Inc. (San Jose, CA, USA) – Continuity Mass Spectrometer
4. University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) – ChemAirU conducting polymer sensors
5. Battelle (Columbus, OH, USA) – REBS+ Raman Spectrometer
6. Kromek (Sedgefield, UK) – Rapid sequencing
7. TwoSix (Arlington, VA, USA) – DTECT data visualisation

Exploring the Limitations and Ethical Considerations of Advanced Sensor Systems

While the early warning system against airborne hazards offers significant benefits in safeguarding urban populations, it's equally important to examine the potential limitations and ethical concerns related to this technology.

One potential drawback of the advanced sensor system is the possibility of false alarms, which could stem from detecting harmless substances or naturally occurring compounds that share similarities with hazardous materials. False alarms may lead to undue panic, disruptions, and resource allocation, emphasising the need for continuous refinement of sensor accuracy and specificity.

Privacy concerns might also emerge with the extensive deployment of such systems, as constant monitoring of urban environments could potentially infringe on individual privacy rights. Establishing transparent guidelines and regulations regarding the collection, storage, and utilisation of data from these sensor networks is crucial for balancing public safety with citizens' privacy rights.

Lastly, the accessibility of this technology could raise concerns about potential misuse or exploitation by malicious actors. Ensuring the security of the sensor systems and the data they produce is essential in preventing unauthorised access and tampering.

By acknowledging these potential limitations and ethical concerns, stakeholders can collaborate to develop responsible policies and best practices for the implementation and use of advanced sensor systems in urban settings.

How could such systems help other engineering projects?

While there are many that dislike the military and its use of funds, many major humanitarian advances have been a result of military funding. Such examples of everyday applications of military research include blood banks, ambulances, canned food, duct tape, epi-pens, and penicillin. 

In the case of the new early warning system being developed by the US and UK, it is likely that this project will help numerous applications for engineering. One such application is sensing technology that needs to be able to detect trace amounts of compounds, and this application could award researchers with large grants to develop improved solutions. This will likely result in new sensing technologies that can then be deployed in consumer, medical, and industrial applications. 

Another example of how this new project could help engineers would be in advanced data analysis of distributed sensors. As smart cities become increasingly more important, trying to process all the data gathered by thousands of sensors can be complex. However, the research and systems developed by the collaboration could help to provide engineers with new solutions. 

Overall, the ability to provide an early warning system against emerging threats will help to protect densely populated areas, and the technologies being developed to create such systems will undoubtedly help other fields of study and application.