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| CRREL Home > Newsroom |
| News from CRREL |
| Newsroom Archive 2007 | ||
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(Posted 12/5/08) CRREL researchers David Finnegan and Daniel Lawson and CHL researchers William Butler and Terry Waller recently conducted a first of its kind submarine and subaerial survey of the Hubbard Glacier. Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier in North America and is currently thickening and advancing in contrast to nearly all other glaciers in Alaska. The mapping was done in coordination with the USACE Alaska District and the US Forest Service. The recent field study utilized a high resolution multibeam bathymetric mapping system, a precision three-dimensional current profiler, and a long range, ground-based LiDAR scanner to simultaneously map the submarine environment and the tidewater glacier terminus. Information on this project can be found at http://www.glacierresearch.com/. This effort supports the ERDC Civil Works and Emergency Management business areas and CRREL's Water Resources Geospatial Application and Terrain Properties and Processes Technical Areas.
POC: David.C.Finnegan@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4106 (Posted 12/5/08) As part of a Memorandum of Understanding concerning combating terrorism research and development between the US Department of Defense and UK Ministry of Defense, Dr. Lindamae Peck attended briefings on security technology at the Loss Prevention Certification Board in Watford, England in October 2008 and observed security technology training conducted by the Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) in Horsham, England. The training included running the ERDC-CRREL computer application, Security Technology Decision Tree Tool. Dr. Peck’s visit was coordinated by the UK Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure. These activities support CRREL’s Signature Physics Technical Area by developing force protection measures under the Army Technology Objective DEFEAT, DEFeat of Emerging Adaptive Threats, and planned initiatives in installation security. POC: lindamae.peck@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4261
POC: Sarah.E.Kopczynski@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4852 (Posted 12/5/08) Professor Ross Virginia of Dartmouth and Dr. Mary Albert of CRREL announce the new, NSF-sponsored, joint Dartmouth-CRREL program for Integrative Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT). This new program provides two years of funding to Dartmouth Ph.D. students to study Polar Environmental Change. CRREL PIs involved in polar research will become IGERT student advisors and tie the program into their existing polar research. The Polar Environmental Change IGERT program is designed to train a new generation of scientists and engineers who: possess a world class knowledge of their field; have an interdisciplinary view of polar regions and their importance to global environmental change; understand the societal and ethical implications of their research and the contributions of traditional knowledge to polar studies; and, upon graduation are already engaged with the international science and engineering community, hastening their development both as global science citizens and as researchers. POC: Mary.R.Albert@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4422 (Posted 12/5/08) ERDC-CRREL's Dr. Mary R. Albert, mechanical engineer, and Prof. Ross Virginia, Dartmouth College, recently held a brown bag seminar at the CRREL facility to introduce the new, National Science Foundation sponsored, joint CRREL-Dartmouth program for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT). This program provides two years of funding to Dartmouth Ph.D. students to study Polar Environmental Change with an opportunity to work with some of CRREL's polar principal investigators. IGERT's Polar Environmental Change program is designed to train a new generation of scientists and engineers who possess a world-class knowledge of their field; have an interdisciplinary view of polar regions and their importance to global environmental change; understand the societal and ethical implications of their research and the contributions of traditional knowledge to polar studies; and will upon graduation be engaged with the international science and engineering communities, enhancing their development both as global science citizens and as researchers. This effort supports multiple ERDC business areas and CRREL technical areas. POC: Mary.R.Albert@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4422 (Posted 12/5/08) CRREL and US Army ARDEC (Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal) conducted trials of sensor systems for detection of hidden payloads in moving vehicles at CRREL from 27–31 October 2008. The ARDEC team, led by Dr. V. Swaminathan, trialed a prototype laser vibrometer for stand-off payload detection, the objective being determination of payload weight and distribution in the vehicle via vibration spectrum characteristics. CRREL advanced its investigation of a commercial weigh-in-motion piezoelectric sensor system installed in or on pavement, and innovative analysis for extracting evidence of vehicle payloads without knowing the unloaded weight of a vehicle. The CRREL team included Lindamae Peck, Jim Lacombe, Nate Lamie, John Gagnon, Tom Hall and Charlie Schelewa. This activity supports developing force protection measures under the Army technology Objective DEFEAT, Defeat of Emerging Adaptive Threats. POC: lindamae.peck@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4261 (Posted 12/5/08) CRREL Arctic researcher Jackie Richter-Menge recently announced the release of the annual update to the Web-based "Arctic Report Card," via a national media teleconference. The teleconference was hosted by the sponsor of the report card, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The objective of this product is to present clear, reliable and concise information on recent observations of environmental conditions in the Arctic and, whenever possible, to put the recent observations into perspective by presenting them along side historical time series records. The report card is the work of an international team of researchers, including 46 authors from more than 10 countries. Richter-Menge served as the chief editor and a lead author of the report card. Major national media interest was evident with stories released by the Associated Press, ABC News, MSNBC and international media to include Sydney, Australia, where it was reported that more than 30 daily's had featured an article on this event. This effort supports the ERDC Civil Works business area and CRREL's Terrain Properties and Processes technical area. POC: Jacqueline.A.Richter-Menge@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4266 (Posted 12/5/08) CRREL Research Civil Engineer Leonard Zabilansky presented at the recent 12th Annual Maine/New Hampshire Area Committee’s Oil Spill Seminar’s Oil & Ice Response in Cold Weather two-day seminar in Portland, Maine. Zabilansky’s presentation "Testing Oil Spill Delineation and Mitigation Techniques at CRREL&qout; was well received by the 125 in attendance representing responders from the Coast Guard, New England Region, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Others presenting were representatives of Polaris Applied Sciences Inc., Maine Maritime Academy, EPA Alaska Region, Bucksport Marine Services, OHMSETT (the national oil spill response test facility) and the U.S. Coast Guard. This effort supports ERDC’s Civil Works business area and CRREL’s Hydraulic and Hydrology technical area. POC: Leonard.J.Zabilansky@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4319 (Posted 12/5/08) Guests supporting the United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) visited CRREL on the 14th and 15th of September, 2008. Visitors included Joanna Gutierrez as USSOUTHCOM Economic Advisor to the Commander, Marcello Salles as USACE Liaison Officer to USSOUTHCOM, Stephen Collinsworth an ERDC employee and liasoin at Mobile District for South America Programs, and Dr. Alfredo Ravinet a Research Scientist at Florida International University. The purpose of the visit was to discuss recent CRREL activities in climate change and water resources issues (i.e., glacier melt, remote snow pack assessments) that are of interest to USSOUTHCOM. USSOUTHCOM is one of nine unified Combatant Commands in the Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, operations, security cooperation, and force protection of U.S. military resources for Central and South America, much of the Caribbean, Cuba and the Bahamas, and their territorial waters. This meeting supports ERDC’s Civil Works Business Area and CRREL’s Hydrology & Hydraulics Technical Area. POC: Kathleen.D.White@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4187 (Posted 12/5/08) On 17 September 2008, CRREL Signature Physics Branch hosted Mr. Tomasi Kaulave Jr, HQ Army Material Command DCS G-2 Measurement & Signature Intelligence R&D Program Analyst, and Mr. Bob Grachus, Army G-2 Representative from the Signature Support Program, to discuss the needs of the Signatures Program Management Office and the contributions that CRREL Signature Physics may make in future efforts. Also contributing were Dr. Mike Reynolds, Biogeochemical Sciences Branch, and Dr. Geoff Koenig, Terrestrial & Cryospheric Sciences Branch. Discussions centered around CRREL Signature Intelligence capability with briefings from Drs. Keith Wilson, Steve Ketcham, Lindamae Peck, and Mr. Gary Koh. The visitors presented future signatures intelligence needs which compliments the breadth of CRREL expertise. Mr.’s Kaulave and Grachus have subsequently been invited to attend an upcoming DoD's High Performance Computing Modernization Office meeting to continue a dialogue into the optimum methodology for sharing CRREL synthetic signatures with a broader DoD audience. POC: lindamae.peck@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4261 (Posted 12/5/08) The Joint Improvised Explosives Devices (IED) Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) has designated CRREL as the program manager for the Thin Wire Demonstration to research and develop counter IEDs. Over the last two years, JIEDDO has invested multi-million dollars in developing cutting-edge science and technology that has resulted in testing three projects, which are now ready to be deployed to theater. All three projects are now undergoing final Capabilities and Limitations (C&L) testing at the National Counter-terrorism Counter-insurgency Integrated Test and Evaluation Center (NACCITEC), Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, before deploying OCONUS for operational testing. Desert Owl is an aircraft-based system and the Sand Dog system is mounted on an Unmanned Ground Vehicle. These systems will deploy in the first quarter, fiscal year 2009. The Copperhead system flies on a Tiger Shark Unmanned Aerial System. This system will deploy in the second quarter, fiscal year 2009. These systems will deploy for warfighters to test applications and utilize in a real-world environment in order help finalize development. POC: Mark.L (Posted 9/12/08) Dr. Harley Cudney, a researcher with the CRREL Signature Physics Branch, chaired a session and presented a paper at the 2008 Meeting of the Military Sensing Symposia (MSS) Specialty Group on Battlespace Acoustic & Seismic Sensing, Magnetic & Electric Field Sensors, held 19–21 August at The Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. Dr. Cudney is on the organizing committee for this conference. The paper was titled "Statistical Characterization of Acoustic Propagation Based on Urban Terrain Zones," with Dr. Steve Ketcham, Dr. Keith Wilson, and Mr. Mike Parker as co-authors. This research supports ERDC's Geospatial Research and Engineering Business Area and CRREL's Signature Physics Technical Area. POC: Harley.H.Cudney@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4821 (Posted 9/12/08) Dr. John Weatherly, CRREL Research Geophysicist, gave a briefing entitled "Decreasing Arctic Ice Cover and Its Impacts," at a recent Climate Change Inter-Agency Working Group (IWG) meeting on 21 August 2008 in Washington, D.C. The briefing described the recent decreasing trend in the Arctic sea ice cover and its impacts on opening shipping routes, tourism, and access to resources, in addition to safety, national security and environmental protection. The IWG brings together federal agencies interested in exchanging efforts and collaborating on climate change topics of interest. Organizers of the IWG are William Goran, ERDC-CERL and Dr. Sam Higuchi, NASA HQ. Work in this effort supports CRREL's Terrain Properties and Processes Technical Area. POC: John Weatherly, 603-646-4741 (Posted 9/12/08) A paper by Drs. D. Keith Wilson (CRREL) and Mike White (CERL), titled "Spatial/Temporal Structure of Wind Noise as Examined with Wavelet Processing of Data from a Compact Microphone Array," received the Henry Bass Award for the best presentation at the Military Sensing Symposium Battlespace Acoustic & Seismic Sensing, Magnetic & Electric Field Sensors (BAMS) meeting, in Laurel, Maryland held 19–21 August 2008. The research is one of a handful of projects directly funded out of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army Acquisition, Logistics and Technology as a Basic Research In-House Laboratory Independent Research (ILIR) Pilot Program. The project supports CRREL's Signature Physics Technical Area and ERDC's Environmental Quality/Installations Business Area. POC: D.Keith.Wilson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4764 (Posted 9/12/08) With $1.6 M funding in FY08, SAVE (Synthetic Automotive Virtual Environments) is a new Army program established to develop practical descriptions of high-speed, loose-surface ground vehicle interface dynamics and to apply those findings to synthetic training environments, autonomous vehicle development, active safety systems development, and to the construction of safer roads. Through its enhanced synthetic training environments, SAVE will provide a greater understanding of high-speed loose-surface vehicle, tire, and driver dynamics that will save the lives military and civilian vehicle operators. Lead partners are Vehicle Control Training (VCT) of Franconia, NH, and ERDC-CRREL. Other key collaborators include MIT, Georgia Tech, Ford Motor Company, SimCraft, Mechanical Simulation Corp, and Team O'Neil. On 7 to 8 August 2008, the team met at CRREL, Team O'Neil, and VCT facilities in Dalton and Franconia, NH, to outline technical issues and plans for project execution in the remainder of 2008. This supports the ERDC Business Area of Military Engineering and the CRREL Maneuver Support and Sustainment Technical Area. POC: Sally.A.Shoop@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4321 (Posted 9/12/08) Dr. Robert E. Davis, CRREL Director, was acknowledged in a letter of appreciation addressed to Dr. Jeffery Holland, ERDC Deputy Director, from Brigadier General James M. Kowalski, Deputy Director for Global Operations, J-39. Dr. Davis was recognized for the superb support he has provided to the US Air Force's strategic multilayer assessment (SMA) team. Dr. Davis represented the SMA Team at the prestigious JASON Scientists meeting and continues to be an integral part of the SMA process. POC: Lourie Herrin, 603-646-4200 (Posted 9/12/08) Leonard Zabilansky, CRREL research engineer, in a joint effort with Rowan Williams Davies and Irwin, Inc., completed a test program to evaluate techniques to control snow and ice accumulation on a model of a new Columbia University building. The models were tested in CRREL's Material Evaluation Facility. The snow study required cycled temperatures between –20°F and 35° F. This research supports CRREL's Cold Regions Infrastructure technical area. POC: Leonard.J.Zabilansky@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4319 (Posted 7/25/08) Dr. Mary Albert, CRREL mechanical engineer, in collaboration with Dr. Ross Virginia at Dartmouth College were awarded an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) proposal by the National Science Foundation. The intellectual merit of the IGERT program is to design and institutionalize a research program and curriculum to train scientists and engineers who have an interdisciplinary view of polar regions and their importance to the global environment. The five-year grant will result in an innovative graduate program where PhD students will be doing dissertation research with polar PIs at CRREL. This program dovetails nicely with current International Polar Year activities and supports work in CRREL's Terrestrial Properties and Processes Technical Area. POC: Mary.R.Albert@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4422 (Posted 7/25/08) Dr. Keith Wilson, ERDC-CRREL, briefed the National Academies Committee on Sensing and Communications Requirements for Special Operations Forces on 17 July in Washington, DC. Additional information on the Committee tasks and membership can be found at the National Academies site. Dr. Wilson's briefing focused on acoustic and seismic phenomenology in complex environments, data processing strategies, and sensor modeling for decision support. It included contributions from Dr. Don Albert, Dr. Steve Ketcham, and other members of the CRREL's Signature Physics Branch. POC: D.Keith.Wilson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4764 (Posted 7/25/08) Mr. Tony Palazzo and Mr. Tim Cary, CRREL Agronomists, along with four scientists from the Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services in Logan, Utah, recently provided plant management recommendations to Fort Carson for the Army Environmental Center. The team discussed plants that can be used as ecological bridge mixtures that can be selected for fire breaks, military operations in urban training, and invasive weed sites. At Camp Guernsey, Wyoming, Mr. Cary with Dustin Kafka, Integrated Training Area Management Land Manager, evaluated plants at research sites and also new research being funded under the Invasive Species Work Package. At Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, seeds were collected from the plant, slickspot peppergrass, a species at risk, for future greenhouse studies on seed dormancy. They also measured the size of slickspots to determine if there was encroachment of other plants into slickspots located in ungrazed as compared to grazed areas. This supports the Biogeochemical Processes in Earth Materials Technical Area. POC: Antonio.J.Palazzo@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4374 (Posted 7/16/08) As part of the Ninth International Conference on Permafrost, held in Fairbanks, Alaska from 29 June to 3 July 2008, CRREL hosted a series of tours of the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel at Fox, Alaska. CRREL research staff Charlie Collins, Dr. Matthew Sturm, Dr. Tom Douglas, Kevin Bjella, Stephanie Saari, Art Gelvin, and summer student Margaret Cysewski conducted the tours for approximately 360 conference participants. The Permafrost Tunnel offers a unique static opportunity for permafrost research and observation that is unavailable in above ground exposures or excavations subjected to dynamic seasonal variations. The tunnel also offers a snapshot of 1960's era Army permafrost civil engineering research, of which a substantial portion was conducted at the Fairbanks Permafrost Experiment Site also know as Farmers Loop Road to investigate roadways, airfields, and foundations on permafrost. The later was also a site for many tours during the conference. POC: Charles.M.Collins@usace.army.mil, 907-361-5180 (Posted 7/16/08) Dr. Steven F. Daly of ERDC-CRREL, Hanover, NH, presented an invited Keynote Address at the 19th International Symposium on Ice in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, held from July 6–11, 2008. The symposium, held every two years, is sponsored by the International Association of Hydraulic Research (IAHR). Dr. Daly's address, "The Evolution of Frazil Ice," described the current understanding of frazil ice formation and evolution, areas where research is required, impacts of frazil ice on infrastructure, and the promise of emerging instrumentation. Frazil ice is ice formed in turbulent supercooled water and is a significant form of ice in rivers, lakes, and oceans. POC: Steven.F.Daly@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4218 (Posted 7/14/08) Dr. Mike Reynolds, CRREL Research Physical Scientist, organized and chaired the 6th International Conference on Contaminants in Freezing Ground (CFG6) in Fairlee, Vermont, from 22–27 June 2008. Attendees from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, India, Norway, Republic of Korea, and the United States, including a group of CRREL scientists, participated. The conference convenes every two years to discuss new findings and emerging technologies for remediating and managing contaminated soil in regions with seasonal frost and permafrost and brings together both Arctic and Antarctic communities. Location, logistics and seasonal limitations exacerbate remediation at these sites. Dr. Robert Davis, CRREL Director, provided the official welcome and Jason Weale, CRREL Civil Engineer, provided one of the keynote addresses on "the cost of doing the business of research in the cold." Leonard Zabilansky, David Ringelberg and Reynolds also presented their research. Conference topics align with the CRREL Biogeochemical Processes in Earth Materials and Environmental Fate & Transport Geochemistry Technical Areas. POC: Charles.M.Reynolds@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4394 (Posted 7/14/08) Mr. Allan Delaney, CRREL Physical Science Technican, received special recognition from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for his lifelong contributions in his field work supporting the geophysical characterization of terrain. Allan received the framed letter of recognition at a 25th Anniversary celebration of the International Permafrost Association (IPA). The presenter was Dr. Jerry Brown, President of the IPA and former CRREL employee. Allan retired on 1 July 2008 with almost 38 years of federal service. His field campaigns span multiple trips to austere locations including Antarctica, Greenland, and Alaska's Northern Slope. POC: Justin.B.Berman@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4794 (Posted 7/14/08) Dr. Keith Wilson was co-chair and co-organizer (with Dr. Michel Berengier, Central Laboratory of the Highway Departments, France) of a special session "Outdoor Sound Propagation and Uncertainties" at Acoustics '08, Paris, 29 June–4 July 2008. The session contained 25 invited and contributed papers from Europe, the U.S., and Japan, including "Computing the parameter sensitivities of outdoor sound propagation in a random environment," by Chris Pettit (U.S. Naval Academy) and Wilson, and "Variation in measured sound level as a function of propagation environment and distance," by Michelle Swearingen (ERDC-CERL), Morten Huseby (Norwegian Defense Research Establishment), and Michael White (ERDC-CERL). Wilson also presented an invited poster "Time-domain modeling of porous media acoustics" at the meeting. Acoustics '08 was a joint meeting between the Acoustical Society of America and the European Acoustics Association and, with nearly 5000 attendees, the largest acoustics-related conference ever held. POC: D.Keith.Wilson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4764 (Posted 7/14/08) Mr. Kevin Bjella, CRREL Research Civil Engineer, in Fairbanks, Alaska, won the 2008 International Permafrost Association Pavel I. Melnikov Award for Outstanding Oral Presentation. The 2008 award was presented at the Ninth International Conference On Permafrost at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, on 3 July 2008. Multiple young researchers (students and post-graduates) attending and presenting at the conference competed for the award and were judged on both the quality and the scientific merit of their oral presentations. Kevin presented his paper entitled "The Effect of Near-Freezing Temperatures on the Stability of an Underground Excavation in Permafrost," which describes temperature parameters for maintaining the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel. The tunnel is an unsupported underground excavation in fine-grain warm permafrost in Fox, Alaska. POC: Kevin.Bjella@usace.army.mil, 907-361-5171 (Posted 6/18/08) Drs. Geoff Koenig and Susan Frankenstein joined representatives from the Air Force, Army Research Office, and academia at a Land Surface Modeling Conference hosted by Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska from 15–16 May 2008. Both scientists made presentations on the CRREL land surface model (LSM) Fast All-season Soil Strength (FASST), emphasized research issues with LSMs such as model initialization and boundary weather conditions, and discussed current product users and collaborators. The outcome of this conference was enhanced information exchange and a decision to expand the conference into an annual event to bring in users of LSM and Military project managers. The plan is to develop a working group that combines and represents user groups, research components and operational people in hopes of bringing better basic research to meet customer needs in LSM. Read more information on the FASST model. POC: Geoff.G.Koenig@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4556 (Posted 6/18/08) Dr. Thomas Anderson, ERDC Liaison to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center in Monterey, California, directed the sensor component of a Joint US and Thailand Cooperative Operations Applied Science and Technology Studies (COASTS) field experiment (FEX). COASTS FEX-V was held at Ao Manao Air Base, Thailand, from 19–28 May 2008 and comprised of Naval Post Graduate Schools researchers and students. Results included the integration of several sensor technologies into a C4ISR architecture and provided mission scenarios for sensor system performance evaluations. The sensor systems included the Flexible Architecture Sensor Technology License Plate Recognition optical system, ICx Technologies ground and maritime radar, Northrop-Grumman Scorpion, and Thai RAMS ground sensor systems. The eight day experiment included humanitarian, base/airfield infiltration, and pipeline mission scenarios. This initiative supports the CRREL's Signature Propagation Technical Area. POC: Thomas.S.Anderson@usace.army.mil, 831-656-2977 (Posted 6/18/08) The project includes design and/or testing of key logistics materiel, GPR studies of the traverse route and facility design assistance for NSF Research and Development facilities at Summit Station on top of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The overarching goal is to prove a safe route from Thule Air Base to Summit Station. This season's primary objectives were to establish a seasonal traverse staging base near Thule, and to profile the first 60-miles of the path for crevasses. CRREL leads the proof-of-concept this field season with GPR studies of a route from the Thule transition (Tuto) to a point approximately 60-miles on the ice cap where imagery suggested crevasses are no longer a safety hazard. These goals have been accomplished, and the traverse crew are currently 140-miles from Thule on their way to the NEEM drill site. A safe ground route to Summit Station provides the Arctic Program with a more sustainable mode for re-supplying the NSF-funded station. To date the team has been able to avoid filling any crevasses. This ensures a safe route for future traverses. This effort supports the Cold Regions Infrastructure Technical Area. POC: Jason.C.Weale@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4231 (Posted 6/18/08) The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) recently hosted a visit by twenty-five very motivated students from the nearby Hartford High School's Advanced Placement Calculus classes. Dr. Harley Cudney (Signature Physics Branch) provided a presentation titled Institute for Maneuverability & Terrain Physics Simulations: An overview of a vocation in the US Army Corps of Engineers on the use of high-performance computing in simulations, and the skills required for a successful career in technical fields. Drs. Steve Daly and Justin Berman provided a tour of CRREL's facilities. POC: Marie.C.Darling@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4292. (Posted 6/18/08) Dr. Don Perovich, Ms. Jackie Richter-Menge, and Ms. Kathy Jones recently published "Sunlight, water, and ice: Extreme Arctic sea ice melt during the summer of 2007" in Geophysical Research Letters. The paper integrates in situ autonomous buoys observations, satellite data, and model results to investigate the rapid decrease of sea ice in the Beaufort Sea during the summer of 2007. They established that an increase in the fraction of open ocean triggered enhanced solar heating of the upper ocean and consequently a five-fold increase in melting on the bottom of the ice. This work supports the Terrain Properties and Processes technical Area. For easy access, read the article online. POC: Donald.K.Perovich@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4255 (Posted 6/18/08) ERDC-CRREL research civil engineers Drs. David Cole and Karen Henry recently received awards from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Cole received the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service for meritorious achievement from January to May 2008. And Henry received the Commander's Award for Civilian Service for meritorious achievement from July 2007 to May 2008 for her service. Both served as faculty with West Point's Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering. Their awards were signed by Lt. Gen. F.L. Hagenbeck, U.S. Army, Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy. Cole will resume his research with CRREL in Monument, Colorado. Henry will continue as an assistant professor, but with the U.S. Air Force Academy's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Colorado. POC: Marie.C.Darling@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4292. (Posted 6/18/08) A group of CRREL scientists participated at the Eastern Snow Conference (ESC) annual meeting in Fairlee, Vermont from 28–30 May 2008. Seventeen CRREL employees and four CRREL retirees were among the nearly 100 international attendees. Dr. Robert Davis, CRREL's Director, opened the meeting with the key note address on a new approach to snow hydrology problems. Ms. Janet Hardy, Dr. Susan Frankenstein, and Ms. Rae Melloh each chaired a technical session. Dr. Mary Albert gave the evening banquet presentation on her recently completed Norwegian/U.S. traverse in Antarctica. Many of the papers presented at the meeting will be published in the annual ESC proceedings and an annual special issue of Hydrological Processes. Additional information can be found at http://www.easternsnow.org/. Most of the research topics support the CRREL Terrain Properties & Processes and Cold Regions Infrastructure Technical Areas. POC: Janet.P.Hardy@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4306 (Posted 6/18/08) Dr. Keith Wilson presented an invited paper at the NSF-sponsored Institute for Mathematics Applied to Geosciences (IMAGe) Theme-of-the-Year Workshop "Observing the Turbulent Atmosphere: Sampling Strategies, Technologies, and Applications," which was held in Boulder, Colorado, from 28–30 May. The title of the paper was "Acoustic tomography techniques for observing atmospheric turbulence" and was co-authored by Vladimir Ostashev (NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory) and Sergey Vecherin (New Mexico State University and CRREL). It described an innovative method for mapping the wind velocity and temperature fields in the near-ground atmosphere based on travel times of acoustic impulse signals. This fits with the ERDC Business Area Geospatial Research and Engineering and supports the CRREL's Signature Propagation Technical Area. POC: D.Keith.Wilson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4764 (Posted 6/18/08) CRREL has hosted the Dartmouth College Women In Science Program (WISP) for the past 17 years. WISP is designed to encourage freshman women to remain in science, engineering, and math programs by providing mentorship and hands-on experience in actual Laboratory settings. CRREL scientists and engineers have mentored a number of WISP students each year. Dr. James Lever, Force Projection and Sustainment Branch, has reached a milestone in having served as a WISP mentor for five years. Dartmouth is honoring Dr. Lever for this achievement on 22 May 2008 at the Wetterhahn Science Research Symposium, as part of the 17th annual celebration of undergraduate scientific research. POC: Bradley.E.Guay@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4119 (Posted 6/18/08) Dr. Keith Wilson, CRREL research physical scientist, was lead author on the article entitled, "Sound-wave coherence in atmospheric turbulence with intrinsic and global intermittency." The joint effort by D. K. Wilson, V. E. Ostashev, and G. H. Goedecke has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The article describes a statistical model for intermittent (uneven) distribution of scatterers and its effect on wave propagation. The model can be used to characterize wave propagation and sensor performance in complex natural and man-made environments such as atmospheric turbulence, forests, urban terrain, and near-surface geology. This fits with the ERDC Business Area Geospatial Research and Engineering and supports the CRREL's Signature Propagation Technical Area. POC: D.Keith.Wilson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4764 (Posted 6/18/08) On 13, 14 May 2008, Ms. Janet Hardy and Mr. Peter Smallidge attended a conference on Transforming National Security: Unfrozen Treasures—National Security, Climate Change and the Arctic Frontier. The conference was held at the National War College in Washington, D.C. This focused on the impacts of the diminishing arctic sea ice and what that means for transportation, infrastructure, access to resources, tourism, search and rescue, the Law of the Sea treaty, and national security of the arctic and the arctic nations. Attendees included Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski, the chair of the US Arctic Research Commission, high level representatives from the Coast Guard, Navy, all five arctic nations, law professors, and the energy and shipping industries. These topics support the CRREL Terrain Properties & Processes and Cold Regions Infrastructure Technical Areas. POC: Janet.P.Hardy@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4306 (Posted 6/18/08) Dr. Karen Henry, research civil engineer and visiting professor at the US Military Academy, advised cadets Robert Carracio and Jeffrey Gray as they evaluated FEMA-sponsored software Hazards in the U.S.- Multi-Hazard (HAZUS-MH). This topic was generated based on discussions with GSL's Paul Mlakar and Steve Lofton. Steve subsequently trained the cadets on the GIS background required to run HAZUS-MH, and the FEMA Regional Office in Philadelphia helped the cadets to run the software. Carracio and Gray modeled a 100-year-flood in Somerset County, New Jersey. The results were compared to what is known about damages caused by Hurricane Floyd (1999), which resulted in a 150-year-flood that occurred in the same area. HAZUS-MH would not model a 150-year-flood, but provided results that allowed Carracio and Gray to conclude that HAZUS-MH can provide regional estimates of damage to infrastructure that could be utilized by government officials and emergency responders for planning purposes. POC: Karen.S.Henry@usace.army.mil, 845-938-6942 (Posted 5/20/08) Dr. Mary Albert, CRREL research engineer and Professor Cathy Geiger, faculty member from University of Delaware, co-edited an entire special issue of the journal, Cold Regions Science and Technology. This issue highlights CRREL's cold regions science and engineering from the history of early polar ice cores to innovations of over-snow cargo transport to the evaluation of ice release coatings at cryogenic temperature for the space shuttle. The special issue was a result of the Cryospheric Sciences and Engineering Symposium hosted by the Snow Interest Group at CRREL in October 2007. The issue can be viewed online at Vol. 52, No. 2, April 2008. This supports CRREL's Terrain Properties and Processes Technical Area. POC: Mary.R.Albert@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4422 (Posted 5/20/08) Dr. Justin Berman, Chief of the CRREL's Research and Engineering Division, has received the Aerospace Engineering (AE) Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award from his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Aerospace Engineering Department. This award is given to alumni who have graduated from the AE Department within the past 10 years in recognition for their outstanding accomplishments in the field of engineering. According to the AE Website, the AE Department "was founded in 1944 and has changed names throughout the years, but has remained an international leader in aerospace science and engineering and has consistently ranked among the top 10 in the nation in aerospace engineering." Berman was formally presented the award during the Aerospace Engineering Awards dinner on 24 April 2008, in Urbana, IL. Berman received his bachelor's, master's and doctorate all from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. POC: Robert.E.Davis@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4200 (Posted 5/20/08) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) researcher Leonard Zabilansky, in a joint effort with Rowan Williams Davies, Inc. and Dartmouth College, recently completed evaluating techniques to mitigate snow and ice accumulation on a model of the Chicago Spire structure within CRREL's Material Evaluation Facility. The Chicago Spire is a residential structure architecturally designed so that each of the 1,200 residences has a unique perspective of the environmental setting—overlooking either the shores of Lake Michigan or the city. This structure is considered to be the most significant residential development in the world. CRREL's Material Evaluation Facility is an extreme testing laboratory where the temperatures can be raised to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or plunged to minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit (with a 10 degree change per hour). The building measures 45 feet by 22 feet with a 12.5 foot ceiling to allow for large trucks and other vehicles for cold performance evaluation. This research supports CRREL's Cold Regions Infrastructure technical area. POC: Leonard.J.Zabilansky@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4319 (Posted 5/20/08) Researchers with the Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) teamed with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Air Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC), the Boeing Company, and the ERDC Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL) to complete a three year, $2.98 M project. The team's objectives were to demonstrate technologies for remotely identifying Opportune Landing Sites (OLS) through remote sensing, field campaigns and geospatial analyses, and to develop and test soil moisture and soil strength predictions. This research effort allowed the OLS Program to successfully pass the Key Performance Parameter requirements of the AMC in demonstrations near Scott AFB, and at Vandenberg AFB and Holloman AFB fulfilling critical requirements in this DOD Acquisition program. Last week, at the Corps' Transportation Systems Workshop in Phoenix, researchers met and discussed potential follow-on work to the very successful OLS program. POC: Charles.C.Ryerson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4487 (Posted 4/28/08) Dr. Steven F. Daly has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Can-Am Civil Engineering Amity Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The objective of this award is to give recognition to those civil engineers who have made outstanding and unusual contributions toward the advancement of professional relationships between civil engineers of the United States of America and Canada. This award will be given at the 9th International Conference on Permafrost, June 29–July 3, 2008, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Dr. Daly was cited "For outstanding contributions to cold regions hydraulics and hydrology that advance the state of the art in frazil ice dynamics and for significant publications on the subject that foster positive relationships among river ice researchers in the U.S. and Canada." Examples of previous winners of this prestigious award are Robert L. Gerard (1992), Wayne N. Tobiasson (CRREL, 1997), Spyros Beltaos (2003) and Jon E. Zufelt (CRREL, 2005). POC: Steven.F.Daly@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4218 (Posted 4/18/08) Dr. Mary Albert, CRREL research mechanical engineer and Professor Cathy Geiger, CRREL, embedded faculty member from University of Delaware, participated as invited speakers at the NSTA conference on 29 March 2008 at the Boston Convention Center. The convention was co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and was attended by nearly 10,000 teachers. The NSTA's mission is in part "...to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all." This forum was meant to support K–12 science teachers across the country. Dr. Albert presented a four-hour workshop including classroom demonstrations as part of the International Polar Year (IPY) PolarTrec Program which allows teachers to participate in field research. Prof. Geiger presented a one-hour lecture on changes in sea ice and sea level including movies and conceptual slides for classroom teaching. POC: Mary.R.Albert@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4422
POC: 603-646-4503 (Posted 4/18/08) The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) recently hosted a job shadow day for ten local eighth-grade students. The CRREL job shadow is not the typical job shadow. Students are surveyed for their interests, but are then exposed to a wide variety of professions, which included their stated interest, during their visit. This year's students were mostly interested in visiting CRREL to learn more about technology and how it is applied in the workplace and one student who, as he stated, was "VERY" interested in botany. The CRREL Public Affairs Office coordinated the day, but the big hit of the day were the researchers who gave of their time to talk on their projects. Seven researchers provided presentations and site briefings to include climate change studies, Antarctic fuel bladder testing, microbiology, a briefing on chromatographic and colorimetric analysis of energetic residues in the chemistry labs and a visit to the greenhouse where an agronomist toured them through the facility and talked about the specialized plant cultivar work currently being done. POC: Marie.C.Darling@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4292. (Posted 4/18/08) Several papers describing recent ERDC research on battlefield sensor simulation and decision support tools were presented at the SPIE Defense and Security Symposium held in Orlando, FL, from 16–20 March 2008. Among the papers presented include a range of topics with acoustic characterization of urban terrain (Dr. Harley Cudney, et al.), fading curves in acoustic wavefields (Dr. Stephen Ketcham), probabilistic uncertainty in sensors (Dr. D. Keith Wilson, et al.), UXO detection and discrimination modeling (Dr. Benjamin Barrowes, co-author), soil process effects on radar signatures (Gary Koh), and temporal and spatial hyperspectral signatures of terrain (Kathleen Jones, Dr. Don Perovich, and Dr. Geoff Koenig). This research supports ERDC's Geospatial Research and Engineering Business Areas and CRREL's Signature Propagation and Terrain Properties and Processes Technical Areas.
POC: John.M.Boteler@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4767 (Posted 4/18/08) In February, Dr. Lindamae Peck, CRREL research geophysicist, presented an invited talk at the "Group of Experts on Detection Systems" conference sponsored by the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure, a UK government agency, in London, England. Dr. Peck spoke on unattended ground sensors and the potential for cross-over to fixed-facility security applications, such as intrusion detection at power plants and other critical infrastructure. Sensors for force protection supports ERDC's Geospatial Research and Engineering and Military Engineering Business Areas. This is also an important fit in CRREL's Signature Propagation Technical Area. POC: lindamae.peck@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4261 (Posted 3/26/08) In the March 2008 Wetlands journal, Lichvar et al. [R. Lichvar, W. Ochs, and S. Gaines 2008. Wetlands 28(1): 68-80] scientifically tested and presented statistically valid field indicators for delineating arid west playas. These remnant Pleistocene pluvial lake systems in desert basins have been problematic for western Corps Districts, who must determine the spatial extent of the jurisdictional limits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Delineation efforts on playas are confounded by the lack of hydric soils and vegetation, so the Corps wetland delineation manual can not be used. Also, due to chaotic and unrecorded precipitation records, no surface hydrology monitoring has occurred on playa surfaces for modeling purposes. A series of several studies using remote sensing imagery and LiDAR data were conducted. These efforts were combined with 25 years of archival satellite images, modeling of 60 years of climatic data, and field verification in the Mojave Desert to determine "ordinary" ponding event levels. From these efforts, the statistically significant surface features associated with ordinary ponded water levels on playas were published for direct support and use by the Corps and others. POC: Robert.W.Lichvar@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4657 (Posted 3/26/08) Imagine Jonas Salk finding the cure for polio and not telling the world about it, or Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau inventing the World Wide Web and placing it on a shelf. Scientists and engineers conduct research to make our lives better, and an important part of that research is to document their findings so that others can share and use those discoveries. To have your research published in a premier professional magazine is a noteworthy accomplishment for both the researcher and the profession. [Read More] POC: Thomas.A.Douglas@usace.army.mil, 907-361-9555 (Posted 3/26/08) During January and February, researchers with the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory provided presentations to students with the Institute for Lifelong Education At Dartmouth (ILEAD). ILEAD is a community-based educational program with approximately 1,400 members and is joined to Dartmouth College by a charter. ILEAD's mission is to promote learning through the study of topics selected by the membership. This year marks the fifth year that CRREL has given a course. The classes provided by CRREL are each led by a speaker on a specific theme. The theme for the most recent course was "Adapting to Changing Environments." Those who provided presentations onsite at Dartmouth were Drs. John Weatherly, Jon Zufelt, and Steve Daly. The students were also given a facility tour led by Jackie Richter-Menge and with a technical briefing by Jason Weale. Feedback was provided via student course evaluations and scores were positive and indicated that the presentations were well received and many asked that CRREL courses be added as a regular part of the ILEAD curriculum. POC: Marie.C.Darling@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4292. (Posted 3/26/08) On March 11 and 12, Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering and the Army Research Office sponsored a workshop on the microstructure and properties of firn. Firn is old, porous snow which, when taken from depths of many tens of meters, provides an important natural archive of atmospheric composition. This workshop was a rare, first-time opportunity for the world's top polar firn experts to gather together at Dartmouth. The attending experts included several scientists from CRREL: Dr. Mark Hopkins and Dr. Mary Albert both chaired a session at the workshop, along with recently-retired CRREL employee, Dr. Debra Meese. Dr. Zoe Courville, Dr. Steve Arcone, and Dr. Thomas Kaempfer all made scientific presentations during the two day workshop. For more information on the workshop, visit, http://engineering.dartmouth.edu/firn/. POC: Janet.P.Hardy@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4306 (Posted 3/26/08) "FROSTY" testing recently concluded on the Mine Detonation Trailer (MDT) Program at ERDC-CRREL with a visit by Rob Watts, Bruce Love, Ken Droulliard, Ed Mahan, and Jeffrey Kubik of the PEO Combat Support & Combat Service Support, TARDEC. The visitors participated in the testing and evaluation of the MDT at multiple frost depths in a specially prepared outdoor testing area where temperatures that morning reached –12°F. The CRREL team included Dr. Sally Shoop, Barry Coutermarsh, Rosa Affleck, Chris Williams, Lynette Barna, Mike Parker, Charlie Smith, Bill Burch, and Chris Berini. As stated by Mr. Watts at the conclusion of the testing program: "Dr. Sally Shoop, Barry Coutermarsh and their high-performance research team rapidly turned our urgent request into an effective and results-producing test for our Program Management Office to fulfill a user requirement involving controlled ground freezing. Excellent response and timely communication from the entire CRREL team resulted in some extremely useful information that will be provided to our troops involved in countermine efforts across the globe." POC: Sally.A.Shoop@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4321 (Posted 2/27/08) Dr. Zoe Courville was chosen to attend an NSF-sponsored workshop for young polar investigators in Colorado Springs, CO. The workshop will take place May 4 to May 11. The selection of attendees was competitive, one hundred young researchers from the US and abroad applied for the workshop, and 36 were chosen to attend the workshop designed to foster interdisciplinary research efforts in polar regions. Dr. Courville will present a summary of her research and outreach plans, as well as present an invited talk about interdisciplinary outreach work. POC: Zoe.R.Courville@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4425 (Posted 2/27/08) Mr. Chip Kennett and Mr. Tom Cronin, Military Legislative Assistants for the Honorable John E. Sununu, United States Senator, New Hampshire, visited ERDC-CRREL on 21 February 2008 for a tour and program briefings. As part of the tour, Mr. Kennett and Mr. Cronin observed presentations on a variety of topics including seismic/acoustic modeling and simulation by Dr. Steve Ketcham, microbiogical organism detection by Dr. Mike Reynolds, support to the NSF Antarctic traverse and winter mobility adaptation for small robots by Dr. Jim Lever, and mine detonation trailer performance over frozen soil experiments for TACOM by Dr. Sally Shoop. POC: Dale.R.Hill@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4262 (Posted 2/27/08) On 20 February 2008, Dr. Jon E. Zufelt and Mr. Charles M. Collins briefed MG Bo M. Temple, Director of Military Programs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. MG Temple was touring several military project sites within the Alaska District and the brief centered on the support provided by ERDC-CRREL to the mission of the Alaska District and U.S. Army Alaska. Projects included construction of the Battle Area Complex and testing of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense facilities at Fort Greely, Bassett Hospital design and construction and Taku Gardens geophysical surveys at Ft. Wainwright, and the Eagle River Flats Impact Range remediation and Environmental Impact Statement for year-round use on Ft. Richardson. Projects conducted in support of the Air Force at Eielson AFB and the U.S. Army National Guard near Nome was also discussed. MG Temple requested that arrangements be made for MG Nadeau (CG of US Army Test and Evaluation Command) to visit the ERDC-CRREL facilities in Hanover, NH. MG Nadeau previous assignment was the CG of RDECOM. POC: Jon.E.Zufelt@usace.army.mil, 907-384-0511 (Posted 2/27/08) Dr. Thomas Douglas, CRREL research chemist, led the research for the article Influence of Snow and Ice Crystal Formation and Accumulation on Mercury Deposition to the Arctic that will be featured in the 1 March 2008, Environmental Science & Technology along with CRREL co-authors Dr. Matthew Sturm and Dr. Donald Perovich. Other co-authors include William R. Simpson, Joel D. Blum, Laura Alvarez-Aviles, Gerald J. Keeler, Abir Biswas and Kelsey Johnson representing the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Michigan. Also, the magazine's cover photo was submitted by Douglas. The article investigates the not well understood relationship between snow and ice crystal formation and mercury deposition with the objective of determining if mercury concentrations were related to the type and formation of snow and ice crystals. Their findings were based on almost three hundred analyses of snow and ice samples collected in the Alaskan Arctic. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs Arctic Science Section. POC: Thomas.A.Douglas@usace.army.mil, 907-361-9555 (Posted 2/11/08) From 29–31 January 2008 CRREL hosted a review and planning meeting for the Eagle River Flats (ERF) Remedial Project Management Group. ERF is a firing range located on Fort Richardson, Alaska that has been the site of a long-term remediation project addressing waterfowl mortality caused by white phosphorus munitions contamination. The ERF management group provides oversight to remediation activities at Eagle River Flats. The group includes regulators from US EPA Region 10, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the Army Environmental Center as well as program managers and technical staff from US Army Garrison Alaska, USACE Alaska District, Colorado State University and CRREL. The group reviewed project status and developed the monitoring plan for the ERF site that will be implemented upon completion of the remediation work this winter. The group was given an overview briefing of ERDC and a tour of cold-region research facilities at CRREL. POC: Charles.M.Collins@usace.army.mil, 907-361-5180 (Posted 2/11/08) Dr. Terry Sobecki (CRREL), Tony Palazzo (CRREL), and Dr. Ed Perkins (ERCD-EL) visited Dr. David Huff, Associate Professor of Turfgrass Breeding and Genetics, and his facilities at Penn State University (PSU) to discuss collaborative research opportunities. Joint activities with PSU will benefit multiple ERDC initiatives and increase our capabilities to conduct future research projects that span the range of basic to applied research. This includes sending a PSU Graduate Student to conduct research at EL on suppressive-subtractive hybridization involving differential seed germination in the invasive grass species Poa annua. This grass has unique seed dormancy characteristics and, through Penn State, we have access to different plant varieties and the ability to use DNA markers, gene expression analysis, and molecular genetics as tools to sort through complex genomes of various terrestrial grasses during the breeding process. This is the first step in a strategic initiative to advance ERDC's genomics capabilities. POC: Antonio.J.Palazzo@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4374 (Posted 2/11/08) In late January, a delegation of scientists from India's Ministry of Defense's Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) visited CRREL offices in both Alaska and New Hampshire. The visiting delegation consisted of the Director of SASE and two cold regions scientists. They toured the ERDC Permafrost Tunnel near Fairbanks and met with numerous scientists and engineers for stimulating discussions on cold regions problems and solutions. ERDC-CRREL and SASE recently developed a cooperative Information Exchange Agreement allowing for the exchange of scientific and technical information of mutual interest relative to research, development, test and evaluation pertaining to cold regions environments. This visit represents successful cooperation in exercising this agreement. POC: Janet.P.Hardy@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4306
POC: Susan.F.Koh@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4500 (Posted 1/28/08) Researchers from ERDC's GSL, CRREL, EL, and CHL participated in the Army Advanced Concepts Workshop on Disturbed Soil Characterization and Exploitation, 15-17 Jan, at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, GA. Gary Koh, CRREL; Tommy Berry, EL; and Dr. Jason McKenna, GSL, led breakout sessions on near-surface soil physics and signatures, sensor technology, and operational environments, respectively. Koh also presented information on Investigating Disturbed Soil Properties and Processes. Dr. McKenna and his team presented a summary of their recent work with Electro-Optical Infrared Systems in the area of operations. Drs. Stacy Howington, CHL, and John Peters, GSL, presented the current status of Computational Support for the Detection of Targets of Interest. Workshop participants included scientists and engineers from the Army Research Office; the US Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command; the US Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps; several major US research universities; and military contractors. Other ERDC participants were: Seth Broadfoot, Thomas McGill, Julie Kelley, and Lillian Wakeley, GSL; and Geoff Koenig and Susan Frankenstein, CRREL. This work supports the Corps missions and research programs in Countermine/Counter-IED, Near-Surface Phenomenology, and Military Engineering. POC: Robert.E.Davis@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4200 (Posted 1/28/08) As part of the USACE Levee Safety program, the first training of the Levee Inspection System (LIS) was conducted the week of 14–18 January 2008 in Portland, OR. The LIS is a set of technologies, including GIS and GPS, which provides a tailored solution for levee inspection and will be the system that the Corps uses for all levee inspection. Originally developed in MVR the LIS has been further developed in the ERDC TOWNS and Flood and Storm Damage Reduction research programs. Instructors included Tony Hill (HQUSACE), Kevin Carlock (MVR), Bryan Baker (ERDC-CRREL), Teresa Silence (NWO), Paul Deatrick (LRL), and Chris Alvey (LRL). This is the first of three sessions where every district in the Corps will be provided with the LIS hardware, software and training. The standard inspection reports supported by the LIS will be uploaded into the National Levee Database for reporting Inspection of Completed Works program requirements. POC: Bryan.E.Baker@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4216 (Posted 1/28/08) On 8 January 2008, Col. Kevin J. Wilson, Commander of the USACE Alaska District (CEPOA) and Dr. Justin Berman, Chief, Research and Engineering Division, CRREL officially kicked-off the establishment of the Cold Regions Directory of Expertise (CRDX). The CRDX was established to foster cooperation between CRREL and the Alaska District in bringing appropriate expertise to provide state-of-the-art solutions to cold regions engineering problems coordinating through Dr. Jon E. Zufelt at CRREL and Mr. Michael S. Gaulke at the Alaska District. The CRDX charter was signed by Col. Wilson and Dr. Robert E. Davis, CRREL Director. Additional resources, expertise, and capabilities from throughout the Corps will be drawn upon as needed to accomplish the goals of the CRDX. One current initiative under the CRDX is the execution of an FY08 Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (ACSIM) Installation Technology Transition Program proposal to demonstrate cold weather concrete technology. Another recently completed initiative was a strategic planning charrette for the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel in Fox, Alaska, a research facility used to study the effects of a changing climate on permafrost. POC: Robert.E.Davis@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4200 (Posted 1/28/08) On Saturday, January 5th, CRREL employee Dr. Matthew Sturm was interviewed on National Public Radio (NPR) about the mysteries of snow. The segment, which aired as part of "All Things Considered," can be heard at: The NPR Site. This supports the CRREL Terrain Properties and Processes Technical Area and the ERDC Geospatial Research & Engineering Business Area. POC: Matthew.Sturm@usace.army.mil, 907-361-5183 (Posted 1/28/08) A group of CRREL scientists participated at the American Geophysical Union's (AGU) Fall Meeting in San Francisco from 10–14 December 2007. Dr. Donald Perovich, a geophysicist, described this year's record-setting decrease in Arctic sea ice and ice thickness measured with CRREL's Ice Mass Balance buoy system. The media, including the San Francisco Chronicle, reported on Perovich's findings of the Arctic sea ice area decrease in 2007 by more than 1 million square kilometers. Dr. Mary Albert, who is currently on a Norwegian/U.S. traverse in Antarctica drilling ice cores, participated in "Live from IPY" discussed in a previous ERDC rollup item. Other presentations included Dr. Zoe Courville on the gas permeability of Antarctic ice, Dr. Thomas Kaempfer on modeling snow microstructures and Dr. Tom Douglas on biogeochemistry research on Alaska's Chena River. These research topics support the CRREL Terrain Properties &qmp; Processes and Environmental Fate & Transport Geochemistry Technical Areas. POC: Janet.P.Hardy@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4306 (Posted 1/28/08) Dr. David Cole, CRREL research civil engineer, has been appointed as a Visiting Professor at the U.S. Military Academy (USMA), West Point, New York, for the spring semester of the 2007-2008 Academic Year. Dr. Cole will be teaching two cadet sections of the CE300 course: Fundamentals of Engineering Mechanics and Design. This is an introductory course in statics and mechanics of materials. Prior to the beginning of the semester USMA provides colleague teaching training for visiting professors. In addition to teaching at the Academy, Dr. Cole will facilitate communications between ERDC researchers and USMA faculty and cadets to identify projects of mutual interest. The ERDC has a Memorandum of Agreement with USMA that allow for these types of collaborations between agencies. ERDC currently has two other visiting professors on site, Dr. Niki Goerger (GSL), Dr. Joseph Harrison (TEC), and Dr. Karen Henry (CRREL). POC: Susan.Frankenstein@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4217 (Posted 1/28/08) Dr. Arun Seraphin, Senate Armed Services Committee, Mr. Tim McClees, House Armed Services Committee, and Mr. Antonio Baines, U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Legislative Liaison visited ERDC-CRREL on 18 December 2007 for a tour and program briefings. Dr. Robert Davis briefed them on ERDC-CRREL's history and the lab's technical area programs. Overviews were provided on a variety of topics including microbiological organism detection by Dr. Charles "Mike" Reynolds, military land contamination by Alan Hewitt, geophysical research by Gary Koh and Dr. Steve Arcone, CRREL-relevant Joint IED Defeat Office initiatives by Dr. Mark Moran, seismic/acoustic modeling and simulation by Dr. Steve Ketcham, sensor performance evaluator for battlespace environments by Dr. Keith Wilson, and "Frosty" mine detonation trailer experiments by Barry Coutermarsh. Dr. Seraphin was particularly interested in CRREL's Human Capital initiatives and the model we have implemented for having a flexible workforce. POC: Robert.E.Davis@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4200 (Posted 1/28/08) Drs. Mary Albert and Zoe Courville, CRREL research mechanical engineers, participated in the "Live from IPY—Antarctica" on 13 December 2007 on International Polar Day for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting. The International Polar Year (IPY) is a large scientific program focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. Mary Albert provided a description of the Antarctica ice coring research via a satellite phone link from the Antarctica ice sheet. Zoe Courville was on-hand at AGU to describe the results from previous ice sheet research. Mary is currently 750 km into the Antarctic continent with the joint Norwegian/US expedition drilling several new ice cores in temperatures as low as (minus) –40°F.
POCS: (Posted 1/28/08) Dr. Joe Durek and Mr. Gordon Miller of the Strategic Technology Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) visited CRREL on 18 December 2007. Dr. Durek's interest was in a variety of geophysical surveillance technologies for specific military applications. Briefings were provided on a variety of topics including signature detection of microbiological organisms by Dr. Charles "Mike" Reynolds, characterizing military land contaminants by Alan Hewitt, geophysical research by Gary Koh and Dr. Steve Arcone, CRREL-relevant Joint IED Defeat Office initiatives by Dr. Mark Moran, seismic/acoustic modeling and simulation by Dr. Steve Ketcham, and sensor performance evaluator for battlespace environments by Dr. Keith Wilson. The visit was successful in providing Dr. Durek a perspective on ERDC-CRREL's contributions in geophysical surveillance. He commented on CRREL's "...very forward thinking in 6.1 research..." Follow up discussions on visual and dual-band signature physics will take place in the future. POC: Dale.R.Hill@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4262 (Posted 1/28/08) Captain Kevin Bartlett, USAF and 10th Mountain Division staff weather officer, his combat weather team, and WO1 Michael Baber, 10th Mountain Terrain Warrant visited CRREL on 11 December 2007. The visitors were briefed on the remote snow assessments for OCONUS regions (Southwest Asia) by Dr. Steven Daly with support from the Tele-Engineering Operations Center (TEOC), the Sensor Performance Evaluator for Battlefield Environments (SPEBE) modeling toolkit by Dr. Keith Wilson, helicopter dust entrainments by Bob Haehnel, and Battlespace Terrain Reasoning and Awareness (BTRA) air maneuver nets by Dr. Geoff Koenig. This supports the CRREL Terrain Properties and Processes Technical Area and the ERDC Geospatial Research and Engineering Business Area. POC: Susan.Frankenstein@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4812 (Posted 1/28/08) CRREL research agronomist Mr. Antonio Palazzo's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) Project, Implementation and Commercialization of New Germplasms for Use on Military Ranges, was selected as Project of the Year at the 2007 SERDP/ESTCP Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium and Workshop, held 4–6 December, in Washington, D.C. The research team included Tim Cary, CRREL, and Dick Gebhart, CERL. The project validated new plant materials for military ranges developed under the SERDP/ESTCP programs and developed improved seeding methods successful on Fort Drum, NY; Yakima Training Center, WA; and Fort Carson, CO. The germplasms are summarized in release notices published in Crop Science and the Journal of Plant Registrations. Seven military facilities were provided with 5,500 lbs. of three of the germplasms. Ten private companies have purchased foundation seed that will be used to produce seed for retail sale, valued at $270,000. POC: Antonio.J.Palazzo@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4374 (Posted 1/28/08) Dr. Mike Reynolds received The Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd International Conference on Soils, Sediments and Water in Amherst, Massachusetts on 16 October 2007. The award cited "his outstanding achievements and significant contributions to the field of environmental assessment and restoration." Dr. Paul T. Kostecki, Vice Provost for Research at the University of Massachusetts highlighted Reynolds' contributions: "Dr. Reynolds research has focused on understanding, implementing, and monitoring low-cost bioremediation and phytoremediation appropriate for cold regions, remote locations, and sites lacking infrastructure." Dr. Reynolds has authored or co-authored over 110 publications. He leads the ERDC soil microbiology research group, whose recent research covers persistence and fate of non-indigenous microorganisms, hyperspectral monitoring of microbial systems, biomimetic sensors in soils, and sub-freezing chem-bio decontamination. POC: Charles.M.Reynolds@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4394 (Posted 1/28/08) Dr. Sally Shoop, research civil engineer, is leading a high-performance research team that rapidly turned an urgent request from the US Army Tank-Automotive Armament Command into the implementation of a series of experiments that involve controlled ground freezing using the unique capabilities of the Frost Effects Research Facility (FERF). The Vermont Army National Guard contributed military equipment and specialized labor to help assemble a mine detonation trailer that will allow the study of the effects of shallow frozen and thawing ground on pressure-activated land mines. This study is a joint venture between CRREL, several military entities, Quantum Research International and the Keweenaw Research Center of the Michigan Technological University. The series of experiments in the FERF will supplement a simultaneous analytical study on the mechanics of pressure-activated land mines embedded in frozen and thawing soils. This effort supports the ERDC Military Engineering Business Area. POC: Sally.A.Shoop@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4321 (Posted 1/10/08) ERDC-CRREL researchers are cold testing a cellular concrete block safety system designed for aircraft that overrun a runway. The blocks, known as Engineered Material Arresting Systems (EMAS) EMASMAXTM (patent pending) and developed by the Engineered Arresting Systems Corp. (ESCO), form a unique safety system. These blocks are installed at the end of the runway, providing safe egress for aircraft. [Read More] POC: Barry.A.Coutermarsh@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4505 (Posted 1/10/08) Having spent time as a professor at Virginia Tech, CRREL's Dr. Harley Cudney has experience in teaching new subject matters. During a 6–8 November 2007 visit to Vicksburg, Dr. Cudney had the opportunity to explain and demonstrate the research code PSTOP3D to ERDC-GSL researchers Drs. Jason McKenna and Mihan McKenna, and Ms. Sarah McComas. PSTOP3D is a three-dimensional high-fidelity seismic and acoustic propagation code developed by Drs. Steve Ketcham (CRREL) and Harley using the high-performance computing framework created by Dr. Mark Moran (CRREL). The training was conducted as part of the Institute for Maneuverability and Terrain Physics Simulations, funded by the High Performance Computing Modernization Program Office. PSTOP3D will be used at GSL to model seismic-sensor interaction and infrasound propagation. This is an important software tool presently used to support ERDC's Geospatial Research & Engineering Business Area. POC: Harley.H.Cudney@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4821 (Posted 1/10/08) On 8 November 2007, Mr. Christopher Collins from Senator John Sununu's (R-NH) office and Ms. Lisa Levine from Congressman Paul Hodes (D-NH) office visited ERDC-CRREL for a tour and program briefings. Dr. Robert Davis briefed Ms. Levine and Mr. Collins on ERDC and CRREL's history, staff excellence, and capabilities including the lab's technical area programs. Ms. Levine took keen interest in the overview of the all-season terrain mechanics modeling for vehicle simulation research that is relevant to Congressman Hodes' Synthetic Automotive Virtual Environments Congressional add and CRREL's pending winter evaluation of the Mine Detonation Trailer. Mr. Collins and Ms. Levine remarked on the high quality and responsiveness to customer needs of the work the lab is performing. POC: Robert.E.Davis@usace.army.mil (Posted 1/10/08) Justin Berman, CRREL Supervisory Mechanical Engineer, has been invited to join the Army Research Office (ARO) Materials Science Coordinating Group (MSCG). The MSCG reviews various ARO initiatives that result in single investigator or multiple university research initiatives. MSCG participants include various ARO and Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) personnel and includes Dr. Charles Welch, ERDC-ITL. Justin also attended the ARO Materials Science Division Review Meeting held 7, 8 November 2007 in Research Triangle Park, NC. The review emphasized four materials science disciplines: Synthesis and Processing, Physical Properties of Materials, Materials Design, and the Mechanical Behavior of Materials. These disciplines are relevant to multiple CRREL Technical Areas and ERDC Business Areas. POC: Justin.B.Berman@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4794
POC: Robert.E.Davis@usace.army.mil (Posted 1/10/08) Drs. Jeffery Holland, David Horner, Ed Perkins, Niki Goerger, Joyce Nagle, and Mr. Burhman Gates attended the Network Science Workshop sponsored by the Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation during 22–24 October 2007 at the US Military Academy. The workshop brought together recognized leaders from academia, government, and industry to discuss this emerging discipline and its impact on world culture, commerce, communications, governance, and security. The workshop identified scientific advances needed to predict the nature and extent of these outcomes. Discussions focused on advances in relevant technologies needed to support Net-Centric Operations, define network science, and define the technical roles of related disciplines. Dr. Holland participated on a panel, "On the State of Network Science: Past, Present, and Future."
POCs: (Posted 1/10/08) A series of four tests were recently completed in the Test Basin of the Ice Engineering Facility at ERDC-CRREL to simulate the impact of ice shoves on a proposed coastal protection structure to be constructed at Barrow, Alaska by the Alaska District. A 20:1 undistorted model of the proposed armor stone revetment and the immediate shoreline was constructed to assess the integrity of the proposed structures under the impact of the ice shoves. The scale models were constructed in the Test Basin based on designs by Deirdre Ginter, Alaska District. It was observed that selective placement of the stones, that is carefully placing the stones to interlock and support each other, provided a much greater degree of stability during ice shoves than random placement. Dr. Steven F. Daly, Dr. Jon Zufelt, Leonard Zabilansky and Dr. Devinder Sodhi (ret.), all at ERDC-CRREL, conducted the tests. Kenneth Eisses, Alaska District and John Oliver (ret.), USACE North Pacific Division, oversaw model construction, observed the tests, and provided design input POC: Steven.F.Daly@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4218 (Posted 1/10/08) Dr. Keith Wilson presented an invited paper "Weather effects and outdoor noise exposure: Where, when, and how often to measure" at Noise Con 2007, held in Reno from 21–24 October 2007. The paper, which was part of the session "Methods to Verify Community Noise Limits have been Met—Measurements and Modeling," emphasized limitations to predictability for atmospheric effects on sound propagation, and how such limitations determine appropriate sampling strategies for noise exposure. Dr. Wilson also participated in an invited panel discussion that concluded the session. POC: D.Keith.Wilson@usace.army.mil, 603-646-4764
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Dr. Robert E. Davis
603-646-4200
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Jane G. Mason
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(Posted 12/5/08)
Congratulations to CRREL researcher Sarah Kopczynski (pictured right) on successfully defending her PhD dissertation on Thursday, September 11th! Her dissertation title is: "Satellite Predictions of Subglacial Hydrology Transitions, and Final Ice Collapse of the Anchorage Lowland, Alaska." Sarah was enrolled in the Army’s Long Term Training program during the 2005/06 academic year at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Since finishing her course work she had continued her research in remote sensing/geomorphology as a recipient of the prestigious NASA Earth System Sciences Fellowship. Sarah is now in the Terrestrial and Cryospheric Sciences Branch supporting the goals of the Terrain Properties and Processes technical area. Starting in FY09, she was awarded a new 6.1 research project titled, "Quantifying physical phenomena governing heterogeneous mixed pixel microwave satellite responses for snow-hydrology predictions."
(Posted 4/18/08)
CRREL researchers and the US Army Alaska DPW worked with a local contractor and concrete supplier to pour a 75 ft x 25 ft hardstand in below freezing weather using several concrete admixture formulations. Ambient air temperatures during the pour reached highs of 26°F and overnight lows at or below 0°F. This field demonstration was conducted as part of the Installation Technology Transition Program (ITTP) and occurred at Ft. Wainwright, Fairbanks, AK. This Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (ACSIM) sponsored effort transfers innovative technologies that improve infrastructure design, operation, and maintenance on Army installations. The objective of the pour was to introduce the Army to the use of concrete admixture combinations that act as an antifreeze, allowing extension of the concrete construction and repair seasons to save time and money. Conventional winter construction techniques require that freshly placed concrete be kept warm to assist curing when temperatures are predicted to fall below 40°F.
(Posted 2/5/08)
Dr. Anna Wagner has been appointed a post-graduate fellowship at ERDC-CRREL and is working as a research environmental engineer with the Biogeochemical Sciences Branch in CRREL's Fairbanks, Alaska, office. She was born and raised in Sweden where she earned a master's in engineering physics and a licenciate in engineering at Lulea University of Technology. She recently earned a doctorate in environmental engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks where she used geophysical constraints to determine groundwater travel times, seafloor arrival locations and saltwater concentrations at underground nuclear detonations on Amchitka Island, Alaska. Wagner enjoys skiing and mountain biking and does as much of it as her one-and-a-half-year-old allows her.
