QUEENSLAND, Australia—Researchers with ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) recently joined the Tools for Hyperspectral Exploitation from Multi-Angular Spectra (THEMAS) team in Australia to assist in predicting beach trafficability using hyperspectral imagery.
THEMAS is an Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (OUSD) Coalition Warfare Program partnering the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and Australia Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and operating under a bilateral project agreement between the United States and Australia.
Researchers Dr. George Mason and Burhman Gates joined THEMAS team in Australia June 4-14, to support soil data collection along beaches used as training areas in the U.S.-Australian joint military training exercise Talisman Saber.
THEMAS is working toward predicting beach trafficability using hyperspectral imagery.
Last year during a similar study, soil trafficability data was sparse due to the limited windows of time between tidal surges and the spatial beach conditions. This year, Mason and Gates collaborated with THEMAS to improve data collection with rapid and continuous measurements of trafficability between the tidal flows.
ERDC designed and fielded an all terrain vehicle modified to tow a fifth wheel instrumented with Light Detection and Ranging and Global Positioning System. The system was deployed at each site to measure rut depth (a proxy for soil bearing capacity) continuously over the beach between tidal surges. THEMAS conducted flights over the area during the same time frame to collect hyperspectral data.
THEMAS will use this data to improve its correlations between hyperspectral data and restricted trafficability areas. The combination of data collection techniques will provide military planners improved trafficability maneuver products during the Talisman Saber exercises and may lead to the use of hyperspectral data in future operations.