Site Description

Acquired by the U.S. Army in July 1942, Camp Sibert consisted of 37,035 acres in Etowah and St. Clair counties in Alabama. Historical records and investigation of the site indicate that it was used extensively as the main training camp for chemical warfare troops during World War II. The majority of the property was transferred to private ownership in 1949 and is now either farmed, woodlands, or residential. 

The study site was located within the confines of Site #18, Japanese Pillbox Area No. 2. During training, simulated pillbox fortifications were attacked first with white phosphorous 4.2-inch chemical mortars followed by troop advance and another volley of high explosive-filled 4.2-inch mortars.

Munitions Present at the Demonstration Site

4.2-inch mortars and associated debris 

Demonstration Summary

The former Camp Sibert presented a single munitions type (the 4.2-inch mortar) and benign conditions where high quality data could be collected. The motivation was to demonstrate the process under conditions where the technologies were expected to perform well to establish a performance baseline.

In 2007, a number of commercial and developmental EMI systems were demonstrated at the former Camp Sibert.  In survey mode, the following sensors covered 100% of the site: EM61-MK2 cart, Multisensor Towed Array Detection System (MTADS) EM61-MK2 array, MTADS magnetometer array, and GEMTADS. In cued mode, the following sensors were used to collect high-density data on approximately 200 anomalies selected from the survey data: EM63, Hand-Held GEM-3, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Berkeley UXO Discriminator (BUD). 

The site was seeded with inert munitions, and all anomalies were dug to confirm technology performance. Demonstrators were scored based on their ability to eliminate nonhazardous items while retaining all detected munitions.

Results and Conclusions

Successful classification was demonstrated on this simple site. With carefully collected survey data from either magnetometers or EM sensors and the application of physics-based analysis techniques, well over half the detected clutter items were routinely eliminated with high confidence, while retaining all the munitions. The classification processing correctly identified all or nearly all the munitions, and a significant fraction of the clutter was identified as such with high confidence. Classification processing applied to data from the commercial instruments eliminated 45-70% of the clutter. When advanced emerging EM sensors were used, nearly perfect results were achieved.

Summary Report

Summary Report: Former Camp Sibert - ESTCP Classification Pilot Program

Demonstration Reports

Final Report: Former Camp Sibert - ESTCP Classification DemonstrationLead Organization: Institute for Defense Analyses

Demonstration Report: Former Camp Sibert - Data Modeling, Feature Extraction, and Classification of Mag and EMI Data Lead Organization: Sky Research, Inc.

Demonstration Report: Former Camp Sibert - Geonics EM-63 Cued-Interrogation Data Collection, Processing, and Archiving Lead Organization: Sky Research, Inc.

Interim Report: Former Camp Sibert - Data AnalysisLead Organization: SAIC

Final Report: Former Camp Sibert - Berkeley UXO DiscriminatorLead Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Final Report: Former Camp Sibert - Data AnalysisLead Organization: Signal Innovations Group

Demonstration Report: Former Camp Sibert - MTADS, Magnetometer, EM61-MkII,GEM-3 ArraysLead Organization: Nova Research Inc.

Interim Report: Former Camp Sibert - LGP Discrimination and Residual Risk AnalysisLead Organizations: SAIC and RML