Tracking of moving radioactive sources

A method for detecting radiation using a portable device having a plurality of radiation detectors, comprising:

• calibration of the plurality of radiation detectors;
• training of the portable device to account for the environment in which the radiation detection occurs;
• detection of one of a plurality of independent events by each of the plurality of radiation detectors and providing a radiation detector signal for each of plurality of radiation detectors;
• determination of the location of the radiation source;
• determination of the strength of the radiation source;
• multivariate state estimation of each of the detector signals and comparison of the actual data with the estimation for each of the plurality of detectors wherein an inconsistency between the estimation and the actual indicates a shielded detector;
• displaying of the results, in real-time, of the radiation detection on a graphical user interface of the portable device.

A system for the detection of radiation comprising:

• a plurality of portable radiation detectors for detecting radiation in an environment, each of the plurality of portable radiation detectors spaced non-coincidentally to minimize Compton Scattering;
• a video camera in optical communication with the environment;
• a decision making architecture for processing data from the portable radiation detector comprising computer program code for:
• calibration of the radiation detector;
• training of the portable device to account for the environment in which the radiation detection occurs;
• detection of the radiation;
• display of the results of the radiation detection on a graphical user interface of the portable device
• an operator interface comprising a graphical user interface for receiving information from the decision making architecture and the video camera and for controlling the decision making architecture.

A method for detecting radiation using a portable device having a radiation detector, comprising:

• calibration of the radiation detector;
• training of the portable device to account for the environment in which the radiation detection occurs;
• detection of the radiation source;
• determination of the location of the radiation source;
• determination of the strength of the radiation source;
• displaying of the results of the radiation detection on a graphical user interface of the portable device;
• and
• tracking the source using the maximum likelihood method.