Hyperlocal Seismic Soil Characteristic Measurements for Unexploded Ordnance Detection

Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) range from small plastic landmines to unexploded cannon shells to bombs that weigh hundreds of kilograms. They kill and maim thousands of people each year, make otherwise productive real estate unusable, and exist worldwide. Their variability and the variability of the soil in which they exist defeat and delay cleanup efforts. Current search technology treats soil as a problem or nuisance variable. We propose to measure soil properties hyperlocally (meter by meter) with a foundational approach that exploits broadband seismic stimulus and commercial off the shelf (COTS) instrumentation to characterize detection capability in site-specific soil context. Field experiments were conducted at three widely spaced geographic locations and in four soil types to research the feasibility of hyperlocal seismic measurements that include P-wave velocity, attenuation, and frequency content. Consistent target-related spectral signature changes were observed across two independent test sites and in different soil types, though the detailed spectral structure differed between sites. These preliminary results indicate that soil-adaptive detection using soil characterization as the primary data layer rather than an afterthought offers a path toward safer, more predictable, and more efficient ERW clearance operations. We conclude that further research into this technology is needed.