Assessing Fog Oil Deposition to Simulated Plant Surfaces During Military Training
Abstract
Fog oil is used as a battlefield obscurant during military operations. A smoke-like aerosol is emitted from mobile generators by volatilizing standard grade fuel #2 and blowing it through a heated manifold. In this study we monitored fog oil aerosol deposition to environmental surfaces during training. This project had two goals: to assess fog oil aerosol deposition (as total petroleum hydrocarbon, TPH) to environmental media and to quantify whether glass membrane fiber filters are a suitable proxy for plant surfaces. In support of these goals we exposed glass membrane fiber filters and collectors simulating plant surfaces (silk flowers and polypropylene leaves) to fog oil training. Samplers were deployed during winter and summer events. In the summer, TPH concentrations on leaves, flowers, and filters were strongly correlated, though flowers and leaves consistently yielded TPH concentrations 60% higher than filters. In the winter, TPH concentrations on polypropylene leaves and silk flowers were not correlated with concentrations measured on glass membrane filters. TPH concentrations measured during the winter were 100 times lower than in the summer. We attribute the winter anomalies to the presence of a low-level inversion at the ground surface that could have affected fog oil aerosol transport and deposition.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA458324
Entities
People
- Arthur B. Gelvin
- Charles M. Collins
- Charles M. Reynolds
- Jerome B. Johnson
- Karen L. Foley
- Lawrence B. Perry
- Susan E. Hardy
- Thomas A. Douglas