Patent ID: 7573044

Claim:
Apparatus for detecting nitrogen or other substances of interest within a remote target and for locating the target, comprising: a thermal neutron source; a mount for supporting the thermal neutron source on a vehicle; a first neutron shield which encloses the thermal neutron source and defines a first aperture through which a thermal neutron beam is directed at the remote target, the first neutron shield being movably supported relative to the mount so that the thermal neutron beam projecting through the first aperture can be scanned across a wide search area; a gamma ray detector configured to detect gamma rays produced by interaction of the thermal neutron beam with nitrogen or other substances of interest within the target and to collect data relating to the detected gamma rays; a first sensor associated with the first neutron shield and configured to determine the position of the first aperture; and a detection processing module operatively coupled to the first sensor and the detector and which associates the determined position of the first aperture at the moment the collected data indicates nitrogen or other substances of interest within the target so as to spatially locate the target.