MTADS Unexploded Ordnance Operations at the Badlands Bombing Range
Abstract
In July of 1997, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, with technical support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville (CEHNC-OE), conducted an unexploded ordnance (UXO) survey and remediation at the Badlands Bombing Range (BBR) (on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota) as part of an ongoing Technology Demonstration for the Multi-sensor Towed Array Detection System (MTADS). Funding support was provided by the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program. This survey demonstrated the performance of the MTADS in support of a remediation effort at a live site characterized by a range of ordnance and ordnance-related scrap and clutter (also called ordnance explosive waste (OEW)). This joint exercise between NRL and CEHNC-OE permitted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to evaluate the MTADS technology for use in buried ordnance site characterization of formerly used Department of Defense (DoD) ranges. In addition, potential benefits to the DoD are derived by using a state-of-the-art UXO detection system as a quality control check on portions of a range that had been previously cleared and certified as clean by the DoD using older technology. Initially, an already surveyed area that included a range of targets and clutter was selected. The targets in this area composed the site training data set. All 89 targets in this set were dug and evaluated. This information guided selection of targets for remediation for the remainder of the demonstration. The site survey was conducted in a manner that permitted immediate analysis of data, providing position, depth, and size information for each target detected. The BBR surveys further demonstrate the ability of the MTADS to successfully characterize sites contaminated by UXO and OEW and to provide real-time support for a parallel remediation effort, while providing quality control data for both the survey and remediation activities. Over 1200 targets were detected and analyzed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA637477
Entities
People
- Herbert H. Nelson
- Jim R. McDonald
- Richard Robertson
- Russell A. Jeffries
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory