Information AboutDemining |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DEMINING | |
| landmines | |
|
Demining is the process of removing Landmines or Naval Mine s from an area. There are two distinct types of mine detection and removal: military and humanitarian. MINE CLEARANCE In the combat zone, the process is referred to as mine clearance. The priority is to ''breach'' the minefield quickly to create a safe path for troops or ships. Speed is vital, both for tactical reasons and because units attempting to breach the minefield may be under enemy fire. In this situation, it is accepted that mine clearance will be imperfect and there may be casualties from undiscovered mines. Correspondingly, in mine clearance operations the methods that are applied for detection and removal and are quicker, but not as exact. Those methods include those that detect and remove in a single action, such as mechanical demining, carpet bombing, burning of the land or the use of Bangalore Torpedo es. According to the doctrine of the U.S. and other armies, mine clearance is carried out by Combat Engineers and demining is carried out by Explosive Ordnance Disposal units. HUMANITARIAN DEMINING In times of relative peace, the process of mine removal is referred to as demining. This is a thorough, time-intensive process that seeks to locate all mines so that the land or sea area may be safely returned to normal use. It is vital that this process is exhaustive. Even if only a small handful of mines remain undiscovered, then demining can actually lead to an increase in civilian mine casualties as local people re-occupy an area they previously avoided in the belief that it has been made safe. In this context demining is one of the tools of Mine Action . Coordinated by Mine Action Coordination Center s run by the United Nations or a host government, civilian Mine Clearance Agencies are tasked with the demining. In post-conflict areas, minefields are often contaminated with a mixture of Explosive Remnants Of War (ERW) that includes Unexploded Ordnance as well as landmines. In that context the humanitarian clearance effort is often referred to as Battle Area Clearance . It is estimated that US$ 1 billion per year would be sufficient to completely demine globally, but in 2000, only about US$400 million was donated. It takes one to two million US$ to clear a square kilometer of land in most environments. Often, clearing landmines is a necessary condition before other humanitarian programs can be implemented.' Landmines - Some Common Myths " Demining Research website. University of Western Australia, updated January, 2000. A large-scale international effort has been made to test and evaluate existing and new technologies for humanitarian demining, notably by the EU, US, Canadian and Japanese governments and by the Mine Action Centres of affected countries. [http://www.itep.ws],[http://serac.jrc.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=7&Itemid=51]. Current detection methods The main methods used for humanitarian demining on land are manual detection using Metal Detector s and Prodder s, detection by specially trained Mine Detection Dogs , and mechanical clearance using armoured vehicles fitted with Flails , Tiller or similar devices. In many circumstances, the only method that meets the United Nations' requirements for effective humanitarian demining, the ''International Mine Action Standards'', is manual detection and disarmament."[http://www.mech.uwa.edu.au/jpt/demining/info/what-is.html What Is Demining? " Demining Research website. University of Western Australia, updated September 22, 1998. While some mines have significant metallic content and are fairly easy to detect with metal detectors, many anti-personnel mines and some anti-tank mines have a very low metal content and are much more challenging to locate. The process is typically slow, expensive, and dangerous, but new technologies may provide effective alternatives. Manual detection with a metal detector used by the French Army .]] The first step in manual demining is to scan the area with s for every mine, and cannot detect landmines with very low metal content. Areas where metal is detected are carefully probed to determine if a mine is present, and must continue until the object that set off the metal detector is found. Technologies that improve safety include large, pillow-like pads strapped to the bottoms of shoes that distribute weight and dull the impact of footsteps, as very slight disturbances of the ground can tip off old, unstable, or intentionally sensitive mine triggers. Demining can be safer than construction work if procedures are followed rigorously." What you can do to help " Demining Research website. University of Western Australia, updated January, 2000. Dogs Well-trained Dog s can sniff out explosive chemicals like TNT in landmines, and are used in several countries. "Mine Detection Dogs in Use" . Demining Research website. University of Western Australia, updated March 28, 2000. Detection methods under development Biological detection =Honey Bees Recent research by the University of Montana has revealed that Honey Bee s can, with minimal training, be used to detect landmines with a far greater accuracy and far higher clearance rate than dogs or rats. "Bees used in Area Reduction and Mine Detection" . Jerry J. Bromenshenk et al. Journal of Mine Action. Issue 7.3. December 2003. =Rodents Recent experiments with the Gambian Giant Pouched Rat have indicated that it has the required sensitivity to smell, can be trained reliably with food-reward incentives, and is typically too small to set off the mines. "Move Over Sniffer Dogs, Here Come Africa's Rats." Reuters, September 27, 2004. Additionally, experiments with Electrode-guided Rat s suggest that demining could one day be accomplished by guiding "ratbots" into areas that humans are unable to reach. "Here Come the Ratbots" . BBC News, May 1, 2002. =Plants The , February 17, 2005. =Bacteria A Bacterium has been genetically engineered to Fluoresce under Ultraviolet Light in the presence of TNT . Tests involving spraying such bacteria over a simulated minefield successfully located mines. In the field, this method could allow for searching hundreds of acres in a few hours, which is much faster than other techniques, and could be used on a variety of terrain types. While there are some false positives (especially near plants and water drainage), even three ounces of TNT were detectable using these bacteria. Unfortunately, there is no strain of bacteria capable of detecting RDX , another common explosive, and the bacteria may not be visible under desert conditions. Also, well-constructed munitions that have not had time to corrode may be undetectable using this method.R.S. Burlage, M. Hunt, J. DiBenedetto, and M. Maston. Bioreporter Bacteria For The Detection Of Unexploded Ordnance . Excerpt from the Demining Research website. =Marine mammals The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program uses Sea Lions and Dolphins , among other species, in the detection of Seamines .http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/mine_hunting.html Nuclear detection The vast majority of Explosive s used in land mines are very Nitrogen rich when compared with other materials. It is possible by elemental analysis by Neutrons to detect nitrogen by means of the reaction :14N + n → 14C + p + γ (10.8 MeV) The system works by subjecting the mine to -252 which undergoes spontaneous Fission . A better neutron source is to use a sealed tube electrostatic D-T neutron generation tube, this has the advantage that the Tritium is much less Radiotoxic than the californium so in the event of an accident such as an explosion the nuclear mine detection equipment would pose a smaller threat to humans. This type of explosive detection has been proposed for use in Airport Security and for the detection of explosives in Truck s coming into Military bases.http://www.nuke.hun.edu.tr/~lo/ak-drug.pdfhttp://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/issues/2003/Jun/Fast_Neutron.htmhttp://www.bath.ac.uk/~lh226/idaho.pdf Acoustic detection It is possible to detect land mines by directing Sound Waves at the area to be demined, which causes the land mines to vibrate, and then using a laser to search for vibrations on the surface by means of the Doppler shift - this technique is termed Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry. Such devices have been constructed e.g. at the University Of Mississippi , at MIT 1 and by the Keyser-Threde Company . REMOVAL METHODS Demining In demining, once an object has been detected it is removed by one of the following methods:
Mine clearance Some removal methods that are not applied in humanitarian demining, but are common in mine clearance include:
Mechanical assets Mechanical assets effectively combines mine detection and removal into one operation. These machines are applied in both mine clearance and demining. In demining they can be used to verify land that is not expected to be contaminated or as an extra layer of security after an area has cleared by another method, such as dogs. The machines consist of a special vehicle that is driven through the minefield, deliberately detonating the mines it drives over. These vehicles are designed to withstand the explosions with little damage. Some are operated directly with armour to protect the driver; some are operated under remote control.
|
Image:Minenraeum AnzugjpgProtective Clothing For
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/bomb_disposal" class="copylinks">Bomb Disposal |
|
Image:Robot Demineur 501607 Fh000006jpgBomb Disposal Robot Of The
| "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/French_army" class="copylinks">French Army |
|
|
|