Award Data

OBJECTIVE: To provide innovative technologies and system components which increase the lifetime and utility of various systems within DTRA"s Tag, Track, and Locate (TTL) portfolio to combat weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The specific innovations sought under this topic are improved technologies that advance the state of the art for energy scavenging or capture from the ambient environment an ...

OBJECTIVE: Develop a Forensic DNA Analysis Kit for Genetic Intelligence that can be used on unknown human DNA samples collected from the battlefield to provide information about the individual who deposited the sample, such as potential ethnicity, height, eye color, hair color, age, sex, and/or facial features. The kit should leverage Short Tandem Repeats (STR), Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (S ...

Surface detection of specific radioisotopes of the noble gases xenon and argon are essential for detection and discrimination of underground nuclear explosions. We propose a unique combination of numerical modeling and stable isotope release experiments to enhance the predictability of subsurface transport of the noble gases of interest. Our proposed research will identify and quantify the physi ...

The development of a high-shock data recorder for use in projectile penetration and pyrotechnic environments is critical to understanding the loads that warhead systems are exposed to in tactical applications. Data from recorders mounted inside warheads can be used by researchers to measure loads on the warhead, fuze, and explosive fill components as well as validate analytic and computational mo ...

IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN INCREASING CONCERNS ABOUT THE POTENTIALLY LARGE COOLING OF THE LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE RESULTING FROM THE SOOT AND DUST INJECTED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE BY THE EXPLOSIONS AND SECONDARY FIRES FROM NUCLEAR EXCHANGES, THE SO-CALLED "NUCLEAR WINTER" SCENARIOS. HERE WE ARGUE THAT, IN ADDITION TO DUST AND SOOT, A LARGE NUMBER OF TRACE GASES (NO[X], H[2]0, HC, CH[4]) C ...

DEFINITION OF THE STRUCTURE-MEDIA INTERACTION (SMI) LOADS ON A BURIED STRUCTURE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST SOURCES OF UNCERTAINTY IN ANALYZING THE SURVIVABILITY OF STRATEGIC STRUCTURES. ADVANCEMENT OF THE STATEOF-THE-ART IN THE MODELING OF SMI BEHAVIOR IS HAMPERED BY A LIMITED DATA BASE WHICH IS CONFINED TO OVERPRESSURES MUCH SMALLER THAN THOSE CURRENTLY OF INTEREST. THIS EFFORT PROPOSES TO DEVELOP AND ...

SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN RECENT YEARS TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE MODELS WHICH CAN PREDICT THE PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON STRATEGIC STRUCTURES. SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTIES REMAIN, HOWEVER, IN THE CONFIDENCE LEVELS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THESE PREDICTIVE CAPABILITIES. THIS APPROACH WOULD IDENTIFY AND PRIORITIZE THOSE ACTIVITIES, ALONG WITH THEIR ASSOCIATED BUDGETARY AND SCHEDULING CONSI ...

THE GOAL OF THIS PHASE I EXPERIMENTAL EFFORT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING AN OPTICAL GLASS AS A SENSING ELEMENT FOR VERY HIGH PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS. CURRENTLY, PIEZO-ELECTRIC GAUGES ARE TYPICALLY USED. AS THESE SENSORS ARE ELECTRICAL IN NATURE, THEY ARE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE (EMI) WHICH IS CREATED IN A NUCLEAR EVENT. THE PROPOSED FIBER OPTIC SENSOR BASED ...

THE SPATIALLY RESOLVED PLASMA DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN THE ELECTRODES OF A PLASMA EROSION OPENING SWITCH (PEOS) DURING THE CLOSED AND OPENING PHASES OF THE SWITCH IS NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND SWITCH OPERATION. CONVENTIONAL HOLOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES ARE NOT SUFFICIENTLY SENSITIVE TO STUDY THE 10 TO THE 13TH POWER/3CM PLASMA ENCOUNTERED HERE, AND ARRAYS OF LANGMUIR PROBES ARE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN SPATIALLY RESOLV ...

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD IN A HIGH CURRENT PLASMA DEVICE PROVIDES IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEVICES OPERATION. TRADITIONAL FARADAY ROTATION, ZEEMAN EMISSION SPECTROSCOPY, AND MAGNETIC PROBE TECHNIQUES SUFFER FROM POOR SPATIAL RESOLUTION BECAUSE THE MAGNETIC FIELD EFFECT IS INTEGRATED ALONG THE LINE OF SIGHT FOR THE OPTICAL TECHNIQUE AND THE PROBES PERTURB THE PLASMAS. A LASER I ...