Dugway Proving Ground Research Articles

Deposition of Cl2 on soils during outdoor releases

Synthetic soil blends were exposed to dense chlorine (Cl2) plumes released at Dugway Proving Ground, UT, during Spring 2010 with the purpose of determining the magnitude of Cl2 deposition onto soil and assessing its potential for attenuating a high-concentration plume. Samples were exposed at varying distances from the release point to include exposure to the pooling liquid (2–3m) and dense vapor (10–17m). Following exposure, soil samples were cored, fractionated vertically and analyzed for chloride (Cl–) to quantify the integrated amount of Cl2 deposited. Cl− was detected as deep as 4cm in samples exposed to dense Cl2 vapor and in the deepest fractions (13cm) of samples exposed to liquid Cl2. Chloride concentration, [Cl–], in the soil samples positively correlated with soil mass fractions of organic matter and water, and while their individual contributions to Cl2 deposition could not be quantitatively determined, the data suggest that organic matter was the primary contributor. [Cl–] results from the top vertical fractions (1.3cm nearest the surface) were used in an analysis to determine the magnitude of deposition as a loss term under low-wind (≤1.6m/s) conditions. The analysis revealed up to 50% of a 1814-kg release could be deposited within 20m from the release point for soil with high organic matter (43%) and/or water content (29%).

An iterative process for verification of a meteorological data server

Key aspects of the verification performed on US Army Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) WeatherServer (WXS) are described. WXS is a Test and Training Enabling Architecture (TENA)-based modeling and simulation that distributes three-dimensional meteorological data over time to participants in a distributed test event or joint exercise environment. The verification features an iterative process as an effective measure to reduce time and costs while still allowing a comprehensive review. In addition, the unique role that WXS serves in efficiently providing real-time meteorological data to support Test and Evaluation (T&E) exercises is discussed. The verification process demonstrated the fidelity of the WXS output and the correctness of the coded technical algorithms (e.g., altitude-to-pressure conversions). The iterative process involved cycles of testing and improved software builds that continued until a build of WXS was developed that functioned as designed. Insights obtained during the iterative process applied to the WXS verification included realizing the full benefits of (1) periodic communications and issue resolution among the developer, verification team, and sponsor; (2) allocating sufficient budget for the software developer’s time to support the verification process; and (3) strategically customizing the verification process to allow for an efficient testing and review process following applicable standards.

Multiple Aerosol Unmixing by the Split Bregman Algorithm

For more than a decade, the U.S. government has been developing laser-based sensors for detecting, locating, and classifying aerosols in the atmosphere at safe standoff ranges. The motivation for this work is the need to discriminate aerosols of biological origin from interferent materials such as smoke and dust using the backscatter from multiple wavelengths in the long wave infrared (LWIR) spectral region. Through previous work, algorithms have been developed for estimating the aerosol spectral dependence and concentration range dependence from these data. The range dependence is required for locating and tracking the aerosol plumes, and the backscatter spectral dependence is used for discrimination by a support vector machine classifier. Substantial progress has been made in these algorithms for the case of a single aerosol present in the lidar line-of-sight (LOS). Often, however, mixtures of aerosols are present along the same LOS overlapped in range and time. Analysis of these mixtures of aerosols presents a difficult inverse problem that cannot be successfully treated by the methods used for single aerosols. Fortunately, recent advances have been made in the analysis of inverse problems using shrinkage-based <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">L</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> -regularization techniques. Of the several <i xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">L</i> <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">1</sub> -regularization methods currently known, the split Bregman algorithm is straightforward to implement, converges rapidly, and is applicable to a broad range of inverse problems including our aerosol unmixing. In this paper, we show how the split Bregman algorithm can successfully resolve LWIR lidar data containing mixtures of bioaerosol simulants and interferents into their separate components. The individual components then can be classified as bio- or nonbioaerosol by our SVM classifier. We illustrate the approach through data collected in field tests over the past several years using the U.S. Army FAL sensor in testing at Dugway Proving Ground, UT.

The Jack Rabbit chlorine release experiments: Implications of dense gas removal from a depression and downwind concentrations

The Jack Rabbit (JR) field experiment, involving releases of one or two tons of pressurized liquefied chlorine and ammonia into a depression, took place in 2010 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, USA. The releases, of duration about 30s from a short pipe at a height of 2m, were directed towards the ground. The dense two phase cloud was initially confined in a depression of 2m depth and 50m diameter. With wind speeds<about 1.5ms−1, the cloud stayed in the depression for 30–60min, during which it was slowly detrained and moved downwind. At wind speeds>about 1.5ms−1, the initial cloud was not well-confined in the depression and moved downwind. Formulas suggested by Briggs et al. in 1990 in this journal satisfactorily predict the time durations of confinement. Sensitivity runs with the SLAB dense gas model show that the effect of a long confinement on maximum downwind concentrations is strongest near the depression. The model-predicted and observed maximum 20s chlorine concentrations agree within a factor of two most of the time, as long as the release times based on Briggs’ theory are used.

Brain acetylcholinesterase activity of the American pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) collected from the US Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah

Brain tissue was analyzed for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity from 24 American pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) collected on the US Army Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) (latitude 40°13' 52" N, longitude 112°45' 01" W), Tooele County, Utah. Pronghorn antelope from DPG were evaluated against 26 pronghorn antelope collected in Wyoming. The mean AChE activity was significantly greater (P < 0.001) in the Wyoming control group (4.612 ± 0.193 µM/gm brain tissue/min) relative to DPG (4.032 ± 0.621 µM/gm brain tissue/min). The DPG database exhibited a fourfold greater coefficient of variation, a tenfold greater variance, and a threefold increase in the standard deviation when compared to control AChE activity. Furthermore, the 95% confidence interval for the control and for the DPG data were not overlapping; the entire control data set was greater than the mean DPG AChE activity. A post hoc sequential Bonferroni statistical procedure showed two significantly (P < 0.001) distinct subsets in the DPG data. Mean DPG Subset I AChE activity (4.528 ± 0.347 µM/gm brain tissue/min) was indistinct from the mean control AChE value (4.612 ± 0.193 µM/gm brain tissue/min). The mean DPG Subset II AChE activity (3.537 ± 0.387 µM/gm brain tissue/min) differed significantly (P < 0.001) from the mean control AChE activity. The sum of resulting α values from the multiple statistical tests did not exceed the selected α value of P < 0.05, validating the post hoc sequential Bonferroni statistical procedure. Pronghorn antelope represented by Subset II, experienced a 23.3% mean loss of AChE activity suggesting sub-lethal organophosphate (OP) exposure rather than a low level chronic environmental influence was experienced by a population subset of the DPG pronghorn antelope herd. The origin of the DPG sublethal OP exposure and its long-term effects are speculative.

Variation between bee communities on a sand dune complex in the Great Basin Desert, North America: Implications for sand dune conservation

Sand dunes across the Mojave and Great Basin Deserts house rich bee communities. The pollination services these bees provide can be vital in maintaining the diverse, and often endemic, dune flora. These dune environments, however, are threatened by intense off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. Conservation efforts adopted by land managers often consist of setting aside a portion of a dune system that is off-limits to OHV use, but little work has been done showing the extent to which this protects native bee communities. A two-year study of bee communities on a Great Basin sand dune complex in Dugway Proving Ground located in northwestern Utah revealed low similarity index values between closely situated collecting plots (1–40 km apart). Similarity values ranged from 0.13 to 0.70 for species composition, and from 0.07 to 0.57 when similarity was weighted by abundance. Distance between plots had no significant relationship to similarity when richness and abundance were considered. Bee similarity between plots was significantly correlated with floral similarity. These results indicate that dune conservation strategies that preserve “representative” portions of dune systems may be insufficient to protect bees and the pollination services they provide.

Niche Overlap and Resource Partitioning Between Sympatric Kit Foxes and Coyotes in the Great Basin Desert of Western Utah

Successful coexistence of sympatric canid species often relies on the subdominant species' ability to reduce competition through the differential selection of niche space. Information regarding the process of niche selection and its effect on the structure of canid communities in the Great Basin Desert is unavailable. From Dec. 1999 to Aug. 2001, we quantified the spatial, dietary and temporal resource overlap of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) and coyotes (Canis latrans) on the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Kit foxes and coyotes demonstrated substantial levels of spatial, temporal and dietary overlap. However, where the two species had overlapping home ranges, space use within the home range differed between the two species, with kit foxes using vegetative and landscape ruggedness characteristics not regularly used by coyotes. Although there was little evidence of seasonal change in either canid's use of habitat, in some areas kit foxes made nightly movements to more productive habitats with moderate ruggedness. Regardless of spatial partitioning, incidents of interference competition were high; 56% of known kit fox deaths were attributed to coyotes. In our study, high levels of temporal and dietary overlap, kit fox movement from extreme to moderate topography during foraging and selection for abundant cover demonstrated competitive pressures exerted on the kit fox population by the sympatric coyote population.

INFRARED SPECTRAL SIGNATURES: CREATION OF REFERENCE DATA FOR VAPORS AND LIQUIDS

Two primary goals of infrared spectroscopic detection are chemical identification and quantification. In order to accomplish these goals, a comprehensive and quantitative spectral library suitable for digital manipulation is required. To a large degree, the contents of such a library depend on the application. Since the primary application of the PNNL/DOE spectral library is for environmental monitoring, we have focused our efforts on hazardous pollutants, as well as a large variety of natural and anthropogenic chemicals. As a spin-off project and in collaboration with Dugway Proving Ground, we also had the opportunity to analyze a limited set of chemical warfare agents (CWAs). An example of such data appears below. [Formula: see text] Infrared optical properties of VX [O-ethyl S-(2-diisopropylaminoethyl) methylphosphonothioate] in the vapor and liquid phases. Refractive index data (top traces) are critical for modeling aerosol and reflection phenomena.

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The ability to detect relative changes in backscatter polariza- tion from a scanning high-pulse-energy lidar system at 1.54-m wave- length is demonstrated. The new capability was tested during the dis- semination of various biological aerosol simulants and other particulate emissions at the U.S. Army's Dugway Proving Ground. Results demon- strate that the lidar is sensitive to different types of aerosols, and depar- tures from the atmospheric background depolarization ratio are consis- tent with the limited amount of information available on the degree of particle sphericity. We conclude that the polarization-sensitive coatings of the beam-steering unit mirrors are presently the largest source of error and that this error is minimized when scanning with a near-zero elevation angle. This is an encouraging result for aerosol source surveillance ap- plications, where the depolarization information may be useful in deter- mining the aerosol generation mechanism or provide an additional scalar variable for use in delineating the plume from the background. © 2007

CHANGES IN KIT FOX–COYOTE–PREY RELATIONSHIPS IN THE GREAT BASIN DESERT, UTAH

Variation in kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) population parameters can be influenced by vegetative cover and the distribution and abundance of other predator and prey species. Dramatic changes to Great Basin Desert habitats, which can potentially impact mammalian species, have occurred in some areas in Utah. We examined kit fox demographics and prey populations from 1999 to 2001 on Dugway Proving Ground (DPG), a U.S. Army facility in Utah, and compared some parameters to historical levels (1956–1958–1966–1969). Adult survival rates were fairly consistent between 1999 and 2000 and between 1999 and 2001; however, survival was greater in 2001 than in 2000. Reproductive rates ranged from 1.0 to 3.8 pups per female in 1999–2000 and were similar to historical numbers (1.0–4.2 pups per female). We found a decrease in pre-whelping kit fox density from the 1960s (0.12 foxes · km−2) to 1999–2001 (0.04 foxes · km−2); however, densities were similar between the current study and the 1950s (0.08 foxes · km−2). Using 9 years of data, we found density dependence between reproductive rates of the current year and annual fox density from the previous year. Using 7 years of data, we found a slight correlation between kit fox annual density and a 1-year lag in leporid abundance, even though leporid abundance was lower during the present study than it was historically. Compared to historical levels, current small mammal abundance and species composition has changed in several habitats. Kit fox breeding density and annual density were inversely correlated with coyote (Canis latrans) density. Changes to the landscape at DPG, especially due to invasion of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and addition of artificial water sources, have caused a change in available kit fox habitat and prey species, and have increased the abundance of coyotes, the kit fox's major competitor.

GENETIC DIVERSITY AND LOW REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN ISOLATED POPULATIONS OF UTAH JUNIPER (JUNIPERUS OSTEOSPERMA, CUPRESSACEAE)

Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) has greatly expanded its historical range in the western United States. Management plans for the species have focused on curtailing its encroachment into sagebrush and grassland communities. These plans often include burning or other methods of elimination. These methods may result in subdivision or fragmentation of existing juniper stands. We initiated a study at Dugway Proving Ground, a U.S. Army facility, to examine the effects of fragmentation on the reproductive success of Utah juniper in isolated populations. We used enzyme electrophoresis to quantify genetic variability in isolated populations. We also determined population reproductive success by examining juniper fruits for evidence of seed abortion and/or presence of insect parasites. We compared reproductive and genetic variability in isolated populations at Dugway to 2 nonisolated and encroaching Utah juniper populations. The Dugway populations exhibited reduced seed set due to high seed abortion and/or insect seed parasitism, and a loss of genetic variability in comparison to the nonisolated populations. Additionally, there was a significant correlation between reproductive success and genetic variability.

Cheatgrass Invasion in Salt Desert Shrublands: Benefits of Postfire Reclamation

Abstract In 1998, fires burned more than 11 330 ha of rangeland on Dugway Proving Ground in Utah's west desert. Postfire revegetation was implemented in 2 affected salt desert shrub communities (greasewood; Sarcobatus vermiculatus Hook. and black sagebrush/shadscale; Artemisia nova A. Nels; Atriplex confertifolia Torr. & Frem.) to deter cheatgrass ( Bromus tectorum L.) encroachment. We monitored cheatgrass densities for 3 years after the fire in burned drill seeded, burned not-seeded, and unburned plots to assess the rate of invasion and determine the impact on cheatgrass of drill seeding perennial species. Cheatgrass invaded quickly in both shrub sites following the fires. In the greasewood site, drill seeded species germinated but did not establish. This was likely due to a combination of soil salinity and extremely dry weather conditions during the second year of the study. Drill seeded species in the black sagebrush site germinated and established well, resulting in the establishment of 16.5 perennial grasses · m -2 and 1 356 shrubs · ha -1 . Cheatgrass densities were consistently lower in drill seeded versus not-seeded plots, although these were not always statistically different when Bonferroni comparisons were considered. The initial decrease in cheatgrass densities in drill seeded plots may have resulted from soil disturbance coupled with extremely low precipitation rather than competitive effects. Nevertheless, as seeded species mature and increase their competitive ability, we predict long-term suppression of cheatgrass in the absence of further disturbance.

Encyclopedia of bioterrorism defense

Preface. Contributors. Acknowledgment. Abu Sayyaf Group. Aerosol. Agricultural Bioterrorism. Aliens of America: A Case Study. Al-Quida. Animal Aid Association: A Case Study. Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). Anthrax Hoaxes: Case Studies and Discussion. Anti-Material Agents. Armed Islamic Group: A Case Study. Army of God. Army Technical Escort Unit. Assassinations. Aum Shinrikyo and the Aleph. Baader-Meinhof Gang. Biological Simulants. Bioregulators. Biosecurity: Protecting High Consequence Pathogens and Toxins Against Theft and Diversion. Biotechnology and Bioterrorism. Bioterrorist Attack, Stages, and Aftermath. Botulinum Toxin. Breeders: A Case Study. Brucellosis (Brucella spp.). Camelpox. CDC Category C Agents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Bioterrorism Preparedness Program. Central Intelligence Agency. Characteristics of Future Bioterrorists. Chechen Separatists. Christian Identity. Consequence Management. Cost-Effectiveness of Biological Weapons. Crisis Management. Cuba. Dark Harvest. Dark Winter. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Defense Research and Development Canada-Suffield. Delivery Methodologies. Department of Defense. Department of Health and Human Services. Department of Homeland Security. Department of Justice. Department of State. Detection of Biological Agents. Diane Thompson: A case Study. Director of Central Intelligence Counterterrorist Center. DoD Policies on Force Health Protection: Medical Defense Against Biological Warfare Agents. Dual-Use Equipment and Technology. Dugway Proving Ground. Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (Formerly Edgewood Arsenal), Aberdeen Proving Ground. Education for Biodefense. Epidemiology in Bioterrorism. Equine Encephalitis, Venezuelen, and Related Alphaviruses. Ethnic Weapons. Fatality Management. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Food and Beverage Sabotage. Food and Drug Administration. Food and Waterborne Pathogens. Fort Detrick and USAMRIID. Glanders (Burkholderia mallei). HAMAS. Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses. Hizballah. Homeland Defense. Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Influenza. Intelligence Collection and Analysis. International Cooperation and Bioterrorism Preparedness. International Regulations and Agreements Pertaining to Bioterrorism. Iran. Iraq. Islam, Shi'a and Sunna. Islamism. Israel. Joint Task Force Civil Support. Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Kurdistan. Laboratory Response to Bioterrorism. Larry Wayne Harris. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Libya. Los Alamos National Laboratory. Marine Algal Toxins. Marine Corps Chemical and Biological Incident Response Force. Mau-Mau. Media and Bioterrorism. Metropolitan Medical Response System. Minnesota Patriots Council. Minutemen: Case Studies. Modeling the Public Health Response to Bioterrorism. National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. NATO and Bioterrorism Defense. North American Militia. NORTHCOM (U.S. Northern Command). Office International des Epizooties: World Organization for Animal Health. Orange October: A Case Study. Palestine Liberation Organization. Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Pharmaceutical Industry. Pine Bluff Arsenal. Plague (Yersinia pestis). POLISARIO. Prevention and Treatment of Biological Weapons-Related Infection and Disease. Prion Diseases. Psychological and Social Sequelae of Bioterrorism. Public Health Preparedness in the United States. Rajneesjees. Republic of Texas: A Case Study. Ricin and Abrin. RISE: A Case Study. Risk Assessment in Bioterrorism. Sandia National Alboratories. Scientists, Societies, and Bioterrorism Defense in the United States. Smallpox. Staphylococcal Enterotoxins. Sudan, Republic of. Suicide Terrorism. Syndromic Surveillance. Syria. Terrorist Group Identification. Threat Reduction in the Former Soviet Union. TOPOFF. TOPOFF 2. Toxins: Overview and General Principles. Tularemia (Francisella tularensis). Typhus, Epidemic (Rickettsia prowazekii). United Kingdom: Bioterrorism Defense. United States Department of Agriculture. United States Legislation and Presidential Directives. Water Supply: Vulnerability and Attack Specifics. Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams. Weather Underground: A Case Study. Index.

Dispersion within a model urban area

This paper analyzes the data collected in a field study conducted in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, from 17 to 26 July 2001. The experiment was designed to simulate a source in an urban area modeled at a scale of roughly 1:10. The model urban canopy was constructed with 55-gallon drums laid out in a 5 by 9 array. Propylene (C3H6), the tracer, was released and sampled at 3 receptor arcs both within the barrel array and over flat terrain. Turbulence, velocity, and temperature were measured with sonic anemometers. A comparison of observations made with and without the obstacle array indicated that the obstacle array significantly increased lateral and vertical dispersion. The arc maximum surface concentrations observed within the array were well explained by a dispersion model based on that of Van Ulden [1978. Atmospheric Environment 12, 2125–2129] and modified by Venkatram [2004. Atmospheric Environment 38, 1337–1344] to use on-site measurements of mean wind and turbulence. The major conclusion of this study is that estimating dispersion within the urban canopy requires flow information below the canopy top.

Cellular Fatty-Acid Analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis Var. kurstaki Commercial Preparations

Cellular fatty acid (CFA) composition of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk) preparations was determined by use of the MIDI Sherlock microbial identification system on a Hewlett-Packard 5890 gas chromatograph. Four commercial preparations--one Btk sample obtained from the U.S. Forest Service, one Btk sample obtained from Dugway Proving Ground, and Btk and Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis (Bti) preparations obtained from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)--were analyzed and evaluated. This study demonstrated the capability to detect the strain variation in the bacterial species Btk and to clearly differentiate strain variants on the basis of qualitative and quantitative differences in hydrolyzable whole CFA compositions in the preparations examined. We conclude that CFA analysis may be used to identify commercial products but that a more intensive study would be required to evaluate the potential of CFA to provide an inexpensive screening tool applicable to several levels of isolate or product evaluation, including how applied preparations might interact with natural populations over time.

Probable Origin of Laterally Coalesced Nabkas and Adjacent Bare Lanes at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, USA

ABSTRACT Unvegetated soil surface patterns 1 to 3 m wide, between 10 to over 1,000 m long, slightly curved to strongly sinuous, and usually parallel, were found to cover about 400 km2 in and near Dugway Proving Ground, western Utah, USA. In the only previously published reference to these features, they were called “desert ripples” and described as “small transverse clay dunes with intervening caliche troughs.” Contemporary world-wide literature reviews of banded vegetation and desert geomorphology indicates that “nabka” is the preferred label for the mounded features. The adjacent bare lanes are apparently unique. That previous article asserted that the combined features were caused by wind erosion. We proposed eight possible mechanisms for the creation and maintenance of these laterally coalesced nabkas and adjacent bare lanes and then investigated the physical, chemical, and biological character of them at small (cm to meters) and large (km) spatial scales. Significantly higher surface soil salinity was found in the lanes compared to either the adjacent mounds or internabka areas. The lanes are not usually concave and do not consistently run down slope or converge. They also are not underlain by petrocalcic layers. The associated mounds are not composed of clay, but are dominated by silt and not consistently on the down slope side. These pieces of evidence discount a sheet flood origin or being created by wave action of retreating ancient Lake Bonneville. Most of the evidence points to post-lake wind erosion as the force building and maintaining the mound-lane pattern. The mounds are thin deposits of silt over clay-dominated exposed lake bed. Variation in the morphology of these features can be explained by interaction with differing species and sizes of shrubs that grow in particular locations. Shrubs probably facilitate mound formation by enhancing wind turbulence. If shrubs become dense enough, individual shrub-centered mounds laterally coalesce, and sinuously linear lanes develop and become self-maintaining if the shrubs are not destroyed.

Study of Near-field Dispersion through Large Groups of Obstacles

The flow and dispersion around the obstacles is important to understand the pollution problem in the urban areas. This study presents the preliminary results of the experiment carried out at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. It shows that the presence of obstacles has a significant effect on the structure of the plume. Both horizontal plume spread (σy) and vertical plume spread (σz) are higher in arrays of obstacles compared to without obstacle configuration. It is also observed that the concentrations in arrays of obstacles are generally lower than those without obstacles. The modeling results show that the Gaussian plume model for the time-averaged concentration in the near-field can provide important information with few input parameters. The information obtained from the controlled conditions of the model canopy can be useful for interpreting data from real urban areas.

To Stand and Protect

This article discusses features of infrared (IR) spectrometers. These spectrometers detect the spectral fingerprints of deadly agents like sarin and mustard gas. The Mobile Chemical Agent Detector (MCAD) uses a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer to detect the spectral fingerprints of deadly agents like sarin and mustard gas. It can also detect many industrial chemicals, including phosgene, ammonia, and methane. The spectrometers, supplied by Block, are the most expensive part of the MCAD system, which at its present manufacturing volume costs several hundred thousand dollars. MCAD generates 12 detection results a second as it monitors the atmosphere in real time. Results are displayed on a laptop. Applications for these sensors range from use by first responders to soldiers on the battlefield. They can also monitor industrial sites. Micro Engineering Software and Hardware has developed a stationary version for use at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah to support chemical sensor field-testing. The company calls this one the Chemical Cloud Tracking System.

Late Pleistocene and early Holocene rivers and wetlands in the Bonneville basin of western North America

Field investigations at Dugway Proving Ground in western Utah have produced new data on the chronology and human occupation of late Pleistocene and early Holocene lakes, rivers, and wetlands in the Lake Bonneville basin. We have classified paleo-river channels of these ages as “gravel channels” and “sand channels.” Gravel channels are straight to curved, digitate, and have abrupt bulbous ends. They are composed of fine gravel and coarse sand, and are topographically inverted (i.e., they stand higher than the surrounding mudflats). Sand channels are younger and sand filled, with well-developed meander-scroll morphology that is truncated by deflated mudflat surfaces. Gravel channels were formed by a river that originated as overflow from the Sevier basin along the Old River Bed during the late regressive phases of Lake Bonneville (after 12,500 and prior to 11,000 14C yr B.P.). Dated samples from sand channels and associated fluvial overbank and wetland deposits range in age from 11,000 to 8800 14C yr B.P., and are probably related to continued Sevier-basin overflow and to groundwater discharge. Paleoarchaic foragers occupied numerous sites on gravel-channel landforms and adjacent to sand channels in the extensive early Holocene wetland habitats. Reworking of tools and limited toolstone diversity is consistent with theoretical models suggesting Paleoarchaic foragers in the Old River Bed delta were less mobile than elsewhere in the Great Basin.

Serologic survey for diseases in free-ranging coyotes (Canis latrans) from two ecologically distinct areas of Utah.

The influence of habitat and associated prey assemblages on the prevalence of canine diseases in coyotes (Canis latrans) has received scant attention. From December 1997 through December 1999, we captured 67 coyotes in two ecologically distinct areas of Utah (USA): Deseret Land and Livestock Ranch and US Army Dugway Proving Ground. These areas differ in habitat and prey base. We collected blood samples and tested for evidence of various canine diseases. Prevalence of antibodies against canine parvovirus (CPV) was 100% in the Deseret population and 93% in the Dugway population. All juveniles in both populations had been exposed. We found no difference in the prevalence of antibodies against canine distemper virus (CDV) between the two populations (7% versus 12%; P = 0.50). However, we did find an increase in antibodies with age in the Deseret population (P = 0.03). Evidence of exposure to canine adenovirus (CAV) was found in both populations (52% and 72%; P = 0.08). Prevalence of CAV antibodies was influenced by age on both areas (Deseret: P = 0.003; Dugway: P = 0.004). Antibodies to Francisella tularensis were low on both areas (2% and 4%). We found a significant difference (P = 0.001) in the prevalence of exposure to Yersinia pestis between the two populations: 73% in Deseret compared to 11% in Dugway. This difference is most likely due to the prey species available in the two ecologically distinct study areas.