Determination of Terrain Ponding for Logistics Emplacement and Planning

Terrain and weather profoundly impact military operations – especially in austere environments. The ability of tactical logisticians to properly prepare for the effects of terrain and weather offers greater responsiveness and survivability. Technology Service Corp (TSC) and its Colorado State University (CSU) partner propose a flexible terrain and weather impact analysis software tool to support agile operational planning. Our approach includes combining a considerable Army investment in decision support tools with other information technologies into a configurable and packaged impact analysis software engine. The package will include: 1) a user-configurable terrain analysis engine, and 2) a soil moisture/terrain ponding engine that operates at actionable tactical map scales. In Phase 1, TSC and CSU, evaluated the computational efficiency of terrain ponding algorithms, investigated the display of ponding information, and developed an innovative finite state diagram and predictive typing mechanism for Subject Matter Experts to enter geospatial analysis rule sets. In Phase 2, TSC and CSU will enhance the geospatial analysis grammar and rule syntax, and implement a user interface based on predictive typing. TSC and CSU will also investigate robust model calibration approaches and efficient down-scaling of soil moisture data. The prototype terrain ponding software will then be repackaged for wide application.