Tools and Training

SERDP & ESTCP Webinar Series: Munitions Mobility and Burial in Underwater Environments

This SERDP and ESTCP webinar focuses on DoD-funded research efforts to model munitions mobility and burial. Specifically, the principal investigator will present results of field and laboratory experiments performed using surrogate and inert certified munitions in underwater environments, summarize a conceptual understanding of the science behind the modeling, and discuss the design of future demonstrations of modeling technologies for site management.

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Webinar #119 (09/24/2020)

Munitions Mobility and Burial in Underwater Environments

Dr. Joseph Calantoni, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

September 24, 2020

12:00 PM ET (9:00 AM PT)

Presentation Slides

Abstracts

“Understanding the Role of Munitions Mobility and Burial in Long-Term Management of Underwater Unexploded Ordnance Sites” by Dr. Joseph Calantoni ( SERDP Project Webpage)

Munitions mobility and burial impact both management and remediation activities at contaminated underwater sites. Observations from the laboratory and field, along with a range of empirical, analytical, numerical and probabilistic models, are all being used to inform our understanding of munitions phenomenology. Basic and applied research are driving the development of prototype technologies for modeling munitions mobility and burial in underwater environments. Since remediation efforts typically take many years to perform at considerable financial costs, long-term site management that includes predicting munitions phenomenology represents a future mission critical technology. However, demonstrations of munitions mobility and burial modeling are still over the horizon. There are no established criteria for performing demonstration of our capability to predict munitions mobility and burial in underwater environments. This presentation will summarize results from past field and laboratory experiments performed using surrogate and inert certified munitions in underwater environments. Both mobility and burial of the surrogate and inert certified munitions have been observed across a range of environmental conditions. We will provide a conceptual understanding of the science driving the broad range of ongoing modeling efforts. Plans for an upcoming experiment moving towards developing demonstrations for munitions mobility and burial modeling in underwater environments will be presented. Discussion will focus on the design of future demonstrations of modeling technologies for site management including a concept of operations that explicitly accounts for the probability of munitions mobility and burial.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Joseph Calantoni is currently a research physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center, MS (NRL-SSC) and also serves as Section Head of the Sediment Dynamics Section and the Acting Branch Head of the Seafloor Sciences Branch of the Ocean Sciences Division. He supervises a diverse team of over 30 scientists and engineers that includes civil servants, postdoctoral investigators, and contractors. He is internationally recognized for his novel approach to sediment transport modeling and simulation where the motions and interactions of every grain of sand are directly computed. His research focuses on understanding the physical, mechanical and acoustical properties of seafloor, estuarine and riverine sediments through a combination mathematical and numerical modeling, detailed laboratory measurements and field experiments with military applications in mine warfare, Naval special warfare, and the burial and mobility of UXO. He has co-authored 42 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Calantoni was the recipient of the 2015 SERDP Project-of-the-Year Award for the Munitions Response program area. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the Pennsylvania State University, and master’s and doctoral degrees, also in physics, from North Carolina State University.

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