The human as an acoustic oscillator: sensing and detection mechanisms

James M. Sabatier
Principal Scientist and Research Professor of Physics
National Center for Physical Acoustics University of Mississippi University, MS 38677

Abstract
Human footsteps generate periodic broadband frequency vibrations in the ground and sound in the air from a few Hertz up to ultrasonic frequencies due to repeatable cycles of surface loading by dynamic forces. The friction force of a footstep on the ground produces broadband ultrasonic frequencies. Human motion can be characterized as a periodic, temporal process of a multi-degree of freedom mechanical system. The individual human body parts (torso, legs, arms, etc.) are coupled oscillations with characteristic frequencies with different cross-sections and Doppler signatures that can be used for human recognition among other moving and stationary objects. Passive acoustic and seismic sensors, active ultrasonic and radar Doppler sensors and passive electromagnetic and optical sensors all can be used to study oscillatory motion of human body appendages.

Dr. James Sabatier is a Principal Scientist at the University of Mississippi and he holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Mississippi (1984). His research expertise include physical acoustic applications of sound interacting with poro-elastic materials, such as the ground. He has pioneered the development of laser Doppler vibrometry for buried mine detection and is currently developing the technology of passively detection shallow primitive tunnels. Other acoustic areas of interest include the detection of humans and light vehicles. He is a member of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), American Association of Physics Teachers, and the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). Dr. Sabatier was elected a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America in 1992 and Chair of the ASA Physical Acoustics Technical Committee for the 1996-1999 terms and is currently Chair of the ASA Committee on Education.

The banquet will be catered at Chippewa Falls High School with the featured speaker following in the auditorium. The cost will be $20.