Munitions Classification With Portable Advanced Electromagnetic Sensors, Demonstration at the former Camp Beale, CA, Summer 2011
Abstract
Classification using portable advanced electromagnetic sensors, designed to operate in areas where terrain and vegetation preclude the use of vehicle-borne sensors, was demonstrated at the former Camp Beale, CA in 2011. The TEMTADS 2x2, Man-Portable Vector (MPV) and portable Berkeley UXO Discriminator (BUD) were used to successfully classify all of the targets of interest by all analysts. There was some variation among analysts in the percent of clutter rejected. All but two of the 16 performers eliminated about 75% of the clutter. This is comparable to the results achieved using the vehicular-borne MetalMapper on another part of this site. Even though this was the first live site demonstration for each of the sensors, daily productivity of 90 to 175 anomalies was possible. One of the teams was able to collect cued data, extract parameters, and classify for $26 per anomaly. Using this per anomaly cost for classification and a few reasonable assumptions we calculate that the use of classification would result in a 50% savings for a 100-acre remediation on a site with conditions like Camp Beale. When a site is remediated, it is typically mapped with a geophysical system, based on either a magnetometer or electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensor, and the locations of all detectable signals are excavated. Many of these detections do not correspond to munitions, but rather to other harmless metallic objects or geology: field experience indicates that often in excess of 99% of objects excavated during the course of a munitions response are found to be nonhazardous items. As a result, most of the costs to remediate a munitions-contaminated site are currently spent on excavating targets that pose no threat. If these items could be determined with high confidence to be nonhazardous, some of this expense could be avoided and the available funding applied to more sites.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2012
- Accession Number
- ADA565787
Entities
People
- Anne M. Andrews
- Herbert Nelson
Organizations
- Environmental Security Technology Certification Program