The objective of this project was to develop a data base of DoD off-road sources and their training activity. Regulatory acceptance of this data base has been facilitated by teaming with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel who evaluated its adequacy. The data base will be used to assess and prioritize DoD equipment and provide information required to estimate emissions.

Emissions from tactical equipment engines contribute to local and regional air pollution during training activities. The emissions from these Department of Defense (DoD) sources are not well understood but likely differ significantly from the emissions of similar civilian sources. Differences are likely based on the fuels, vehicle usage patterns, and engine technologies. Although many of these sources are exempt from regulations that limit these emissions from comparable civilian sources, DoD installations still must be able to respond to regulatory questions about the impacts of these sources on air pollution problems.

This project developed a data base of DoD diesel-engine-powered off-road equipment. The data base contains information about fuels, equipment, engines, inventories, usage, and fuel consumption. Detailed tactical equipment information such as age, mileage, and use will ensure that the equipment tested represents a larger population of the equipment type. The fuel consumption data will allow an estimate of engine use independent of hours-of-operation estimates and will justify the specific fuels used for emissions tests. Data from many disparate sources was integrated into a single data base for prioritizing emissions research or easily accessing information for estimating emissions. The data base was designed so that it can be modified through a user interface or by automated batch procedures that capture data from known sources. The data base also contains sets of useful queries and reports for analysis.

A data base of DoD diesel-engine-powered off-road equipment was developed using Microsoft® Access database development tools to support the SERDP-funded project Characterization of Off-Road Emissions of Criteria Pollutants (WP-1336). The data base was used to prioritize the equipment contained in the WP-1336 test matrix and will later be used as a source of information for the WP-1336 engine emission estimation tool. Data analysis has shown that the top ten fuel consuming engines account for more than 90% of fuel usage for the Army and more than 80% for the U.S. Marine Corps. Therefore, emission tests performed on a limited number of off-road diesel engines can provide a fairly complete picture of emissions from the entire population of military off-road sources. The data base includes an interface that allows users to view data in onscreen forms or analyze data using built-in reports. The data base and interface are intended as resources for anyone interested in examining, filtering, querying, or analyzing the collected data.

The primary benefit of this research was its contribution to developing a tool to accurately estimate engine emissions for DoD off-road sources. This capability enables DoD environmental staff, installation managers, and designers of military training ranges to estimate the environmental impacts of off-road diesel emissions and to develop recommendations for reducing these emissions. The data base of DoD off-road sources and activity levels is also a useful tool for researchers investigating other environmental impacts related to off-road diesel engine use.