Objective: Wide-Area Assessment (WAA) addresses the need for improved efficiency and reduced costs in the remediation of unexploded ordnance (UXO) on base realignment and closure (BRAC) sites, formerly used defense sites (FUDS), and active Department of Defense (DoD) training facilities. Currently, the high cost of investigating sites and mitigating UXO contamination renders millions of acres of FUDS unusable. In fact, large portions of many sites designated as potentially contaminated contain no ordnance. As boundaries are delineated for ordnance-contaminated areas, the savings to DoD would be substantial if these lands can be certified as clean. The objective of this demonstration is to document the increased efficiency and reduced costs in remediation projects that utilize WAA to determine the spatial distribution of uncontaminated areas versus concentrated contamination and to plan ground remediation efforts accordingly. Technology Description: The WAA technology to be demonstrated is an innovative composite application of several airborne remote sensing technologies, data processing and fusion algorithms, and geospatial information technologies. At the most fundamental level, this WAA methodology is based on detection and mapping of ordnance-related features (ORF). ORFs include features such as metallic fragments and munitions parts, topographic features such as craters and artillery emplacements, and man-made features such as range and target infrastructure remnants. The basic data sets for ORF detection are collected using synthetic aperture radar (SAR), hyperspectral imaging spectrometers (HSI), high resolution orthophotography, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR). These data sets are spatially co-registered in a Geographic Information System (GIS) geospatial database and fused based on ground reference and calibration sample data to reduce false-positive ORF detections. In the GIS, ORFs are classified, analyzed for pattern and spatial distribution, and related to historical land use and other relevant data. This process results in the classification of the site into the following three categories: (1) Presumptively Clean, (2) Area of Interest, and (3) Not Analyzed. The development of a site GIS provides a critically important resource for the efficient and cost-effective management of subsequent remediation activities. Expected Benefits: Initial application of this WAA methodology at the Former Lowry Bombing and Gunnery Range FUDS near Aurora, Colorado, will result in an estimated savings of over $80 million, while providing a level of coverage that was accepted by regulators and public oversight reviewers. These savings were accrued primarily through the provision of field-verified 100% coverage and analysis of large areas of the site that had very low probability of UXO contamination and through detailed characterization of areas of the site containing potential UXO contamination. These WAA tools also provide DoD with a cost-effective method for characterizing and planning large sites, potentially without the problematic requirement to subdivide the site into multiple projects. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2007)
Principal Investigator:
Dr. John Foley
Sky Research, Inc.
15 Douglas Road
Lowell, MA 01852
Telephone: (978) 458-9807
Fax: (720) 293-9666
E-mail: jack.foley@skyresearch.com DoD Liaison:
Mr. Hollis Bennett
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
ATTN: CEWES-EE-S
3909 Halls Ferry Road
Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199
Telephone: (601) 634-3924
Fax: (601) 634-2732
E-mail: jay.bennett@erdc.usace.army.mil |
