Integrated Desert Terrain Forecasting for Military Operations
Abstract
The goal of this project was to develop an integrated, predictive tool for forecasting desert terrain conditions (soils, vegetation, dust emission potential, trafficability) to support military activities in desert environments. Results have led to the development of multiple approaches to utilize basic terrain data, including space borne and airborne remote-sensing data and imagery, to rapidly predict surface and subsurface terrain conditions over a wide range of scales. During FY2012, progress was made in the following areas: 1. Empirical research to directly study the impact of military vehicle activity on desert soils, and the changes in soil and surface structure that occur with increasing levels of use; 2. Ongoing research to further examine the sources of dust in Israel; 3. Further development of new more automated approaches for landform mapping, to offer faster and more objective alternatives to the standard expert-based methods; 4. Further development and application of soft computing methods for modeling dust emission potential and other soil properties on desert landforms; 5. Ongoing application of developed predictive mapping techniques, including creating maps of: a) salt-rich dust content for the entire country of Afghanistan; and b) PM10 dust emission flux from undisturbed surfaces across all USCENTCOM (U.S. Central Command) countries.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 15, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA605971
Entities
People
- Eric McDonald
- Jose L. Antinao
- Marcus Berli
- Onn Crouvi
- Rivka Amit
- Sophie Baker
- Steven Bacon
- Todd Caldwell
- Tom Bullard
- Yehouda Enzel
Organizations
- Desert Research Institute