Remote Airfield Assessment System Tool Kit

McQ proposes to develop a California Bearing Ration (CBR) measurement system to determine the soil bearing strength at remote airfields for safe aircraft operation at these sites. A standard soil strength measurement is CBR. McQ has developed wireless underground sensor networks (WUSNs) for an AFRL project to communicate sensor data from a buried munitions test unit. The RF propagation through the earth can provide the CBR soil strength data based on propagation parameters associated with the signal traveling through the dirt. McQ will take advantage of the WUSN research performed for AFRL and adapt the electronics to measure CBR using an algorithm developed under this SBIR. McQ will develop under this SBIR the portable, small tool kit that can quickly perform each measurement, record the information on an Android tablet, map the soil strength data over 30 measurement points and collect associated terrain and obstacle imagery to assess the potential airfield usage. McQ has an existing test facility for WUSN measurements to support the development and testing of the proposed system. McQ will use specialized electronics designed for the munitions data retrieval system to develop the CBR algorithm and provide a demonstration at the end of the Phase I effort.