Man-Portable Adjuncts for the Multi-Sensor Towed Array Detection System (MTADS)

Abstract

Abstract : The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Huntsville estimates that approximately 20 million acres of land are contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) or ordnance explosive waste (OEW) within the continental United States. This is the result of operations that include training, testing, manufacture, storage, disposal, and intentional burials. Now, through either congressional mandates such as the formerly used defense sites (FUDS), base realignment and closure (BRAC), or state litigation, these sites are being evaluated, remediated (as required), and certified as safe for the intended ultimate public use. This is a very slow and costly process, and in some cases, impossible to do with existing technologies and resources. Within the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), the goal of the UXO Cleanup Thrust is to develop automated, economical, and efficient methods to accomplish UXO site cleanups through the demonstration and fielding of new technologies. One of these funded programs was the Multi-Sensor Towed Array Detection System (MTADS) developed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL ) [1]. This system consists of a tow vehicle and two low self-signature tow platforms, one for an eight-sensor magnetometer array and the other for a three-sensor time domain electromagnetic (EM) pulsed induction array. MTADS uses the global positioning system (GPS) for navigation, sensor position location, and survey guidance and has a sophisticated data analysis system for interpreting field data. Target analyses include target position, depth, orientation, predicted target size, and a goodness-of- fit value [2]. Based on the success of extensive field demonstrations, NRL signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with a commercial company, Blackhawk Geometrics, Inc., and nongovernment systems have been designed and built based on the NRL vehicular and man-portable MTADS.