CLU-IN | Geophysical Classification for Munitions Response

For decades, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has produced and used military munitions for live-fire testing and training to prepare the U.S. military for combat operations. As a result, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and discarded military munitions may be present at over 5,200 former ranges and former munitions operating facilities throughout the United States. With the traditional technique to identify munitions for removal at these sites, DOD and its contractors have used various types of detection instruments to simply detect buried metal objects then excavation and examination of most of the detected items, to determine whether or not they are military munitions. Even highly trained UXO-qualified personnel typically excavate hundreds of metal items for each one munition recovered. Nearly half of these sites require a munitions response, at an estimated cost to complete of $14 billion and with a completion date of 2100. To improve the efficiency of munitions response, DOD’s Environmental Security Technology Certification Program and its research partners in academia and industry have developed a new approach: geophysical classification. Geophysical classification is the process of using advanced data to make principled decisions as to whether buried metal objects are potentially hazardous munitions (that is targets of interest) that should be excavated, or items such as metal clutter and debris (non-targets of interest) that can be left in the ground.

ITRC’s Geophysical Classification for Munitions Response (GCMR-2, 2015) and training class explain the process of geophysical classification, describe its benefits and limitations, and discuss the information and data needed by regulators to monitor and evaluate the use of the technology. This document and training also emphasize using a systematic planning process to develop data acquisition and decision strategies at the outset of a munitions response effort, as well as quality considerations throughout the project. Stakeholder issues that are unique to munitions response are also discussed. After this training class, participants will:

Understand the technology and terminology
Be ready to engage in the planning process to address quality considerations throughout a project
Find tools to transfer knowledge within organizations and to stakeholders
Start to transition mindset to decisions that leave non-hazardous items in the ground

An audience who understand current munitions response tools and procedures (for example, geophysical surveys, sensors, data analysis) will benefit most from this document and training. For federal and state environmental regulators, scientists, and engineers, as well as contractors, munitions response managers, technical staff, geophysicists, and stakeholders, this document explains how geophysical classification can be used in munitions response. Stakeholders with an interest in a particular munitions response site (MRS) at which classification has been or may be proposed will also benefit from this document and training.

For use during this training class, we created a reference with the Terminology and Acronyms used in ITRC “Geophysical Classification for Munitions Response” Training.