Use of GPS and GIS to Estimate Terrain Impacts From Military Maneuvers.

Understanding military vehicle impacts is needed to assist land managers maintain a sustainable training areas.  This approach involves the use Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to estimate terrain impacts due to military vehicle traffic.  GPS-based vehicle tracking systems (VTS) were developed to record vehicle locations and operating characteristics (velocity and turning radius).  Typically 20 VTS are mounted prior to a 2 week battalion-level exercise.  Vehicles mounted include both the active platoons and headquarters vehicles.  Analysis includes vehicle movement patterns (VMP) such as total distance travelled, off-road distances, vehicle velocity and turning radius.  Tracking studies have been conducted at Yakima Training Center, Fort Lewis, Fort Riley, Limestone Hills Training Area, Orchard Training Area and Pohakuloa Training Area.  Next vehicle impact relationships are developed for a variety of tracked and wheeled vehicles, in different soil conditions and vehicle operating characteristics.  A total of 5,262 impact points were measured (includes both the inside and outside tracks) for 5 different tracked and 6 different wheeled vehicles.  Relationships were developed to predict the width and severity of vegetative impact based on vehicle type and operations, and soil conditions.  Finally incorporating the vehicle impact relationships with the off-road vehicle GPS data, site-specific estimates of military vehicle impacts can be determined within the training area.