HOVERCRAFT BASED MUNITIONS DETECTION SYSTEM: THE UNREACHABLE REACHED

English Abstract:

Survey efforts in shallow water present a challenge; when coupled with protected species and critical habitat such as coral reefs, they can prove impossible. The development of an environmentally sensitive survey platform now allows for data collection in such areas. The TEMA-Lite (Towed ElectroMagnetic Array) is a hovercraft-based munitions detection system capable of collecting data in areas where previously only more expensive, less sensitive aircraft-based systems were able to perform.

The Tetra Tech developed TEMA system has multiple form factors and two deployment types, each with a three-meter swath width. The deep-tow TEMA MK3 operates in 3 to 100 meters of water; and the TEMA-Lite operates in extremely shallow water to 40m depth. This talk will focus on the hovercraft based TEMA-Lite variant. The use of hovercraft for MEC/UXO survey has been in development for many years, particularly for use in difficult areas for data collection, such as surf zones and shorelines. A hovercraft allows ingress to areas inaccessible by foot or by conventional watercraft.

In the spring of 2015 the system will conduct Phase 2 of an ongoing MEC/UXO remedial investigation and feasibility study at a Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP) for Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) location in the Caribbean. The entire site comprises 1,030 acres; the area to be surveyed using the hovercraft-based system is approximately 230 acres consisting of shallow coral reefs with listed and protected corals. This area was originally excluded from the survey due to the potential for damaging the coral.

This munitions detection system can travel where no other watercraft is able to travel and where sensitive habitat is only inches below the water’s surface. By using this system, which hovers nine inches (22.8 cm) above the surface of water, a MEC/UXO survey can now be conducted in challenging shallow conditions, such as the coastal Caribbean, with confidence that sensitive habitat will not be harmed.

The hovercraft-based system also is significantly more cost-effective than a helicopter-based system, which is the only other viable alternative in open areas. This new system also allows more effective detection of UXO, since a hovercraft travels closer to the items than would a helicopter.