Apparatus for Wideband-threat Assessment of RF Effects (AWARE)

SARA is pleased to offer to the Defense Health Agency its vision for a low-cost wideband wearable battlefield RF detection system to monitor and report human exposure to harmful electromagnetic energy. The proposed system consists of a single, simple "dosimeter badge" worn on the solidier's uniform that measures harmful EM radiation coming from him at any direction. The dosimeter is a combination of low-SWAP-C EMI-protected printed circuit boards and wideband antennas to measure signals between 100MHz and 40GHz (with a priority range between 900MHz and 6GHz). The device is capable of measuring electric fields, magnetic fields, power, power density and pulse energy reliably across the frequency range. Novel to this device is the ability to detect inexpensively repetitively pulsed events below five microseconds, a capability not available in conventional EM hazard monitoring systems, and one that is necessary to detect and characterize dangerous pulsed-power energy propagating from directed-energy weapons suspected to be fielded by the Russians and Chinese today. While cost and SWAP limit device utility to imminent threat detection (audible alarms) and RF power tracking with time, the devices may easily be augmented to provide ad-hoc networking of each soldier's exposure data, improving situational awareness of the soldiers without the need for a central authority.