Evaluation of Airborne Electromagnetic Systems for Detection and Characterization of Unexploded Ordnance (UXO): Cost & Performance Report

Abstract

Abstract : As a result of past military training and weapons-testing activities, an estimated 6 million hectares (approximately 15 million acres) of U.S. land is potentially contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) and/or weapons testing-and training-related artifacts. These contaminated areas include sites designated for base realignment and closure (BRAC) and formerly used defense sites (FUDS) Using current technologies, the costs associated with detection, identification, and mapping of this contamination has been estimated to be in the tens of billions of dollars Current surface-based technologies have shown improvements in the ability to detect subsurface UXO but are unable to reliably discriminate UXO from other items that pose no risk These approaches are generally labor-intensive, slow, and expensive Significant cost savings could be achieved if it is demonstrated that advanced airborne methods can provide a substitute for a portion of the surface-based applications.