Near-Surface Rapid Soil Characterization System

Soil strength, type, and moisture content are needed to properly assess the load carrying capacity of infrastructure under traffic from ground vehicles and aircraft. Soldiers, with little engineering experience, must be capable of rapidly determining these critical properties to assess the mobility characteristics of maneuver corridors within the theater of operation. Current methods are subject to many limitations, including noise signature, incomplete soil assessment, inaccuracy, and potential for injury. In the proposed work, a novel extension of proven cone penetrometer technology will be developed that brings together measurement of soil strength, moisture content, and classification in a battlespace friendly configuration. First, the labor intensive and unwieldly configuration of the cone penetrometer is replaced with a hands-off, automatic, sound-shielded design that sits on the ground and employs an automatic and adaptive force generation and transfer mechanism. Moisture and dry density profiles will be measured using TransTech's patented electrical impedance technology. Finally, soil type will be developed from a fusion of electrical impedance data, cone and sleeve friction data, pore pressure data, and processed visual imagery. The proposed technology will, for the first time, develop a man-portable instrument that provides a comprehensive field assessment of soil characteristics important for mobility operations.