Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Remote Explosive Scent Tracing Rest, Gichd

Global CWD Repository

Remote Explosive Scent Tracing (REST) is essentially a survey methodology based on using dogs and rats to remotely detect landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Systems similar to REST have been used in technical survey and mine clearance operations for 20 years, and have been subject to a study conducted by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) since 2000.

At that time, REST was considered one of the most promising avenues for speeding up demining operations and making them more cost-efficient, very much in the spirit of the land release concept. The GICHD got involved in the …

Clearing Minefields In Israel And The West Bank, Dyhan Or, Heidi Kuhn

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Recent legislation in Israel has opened the door to demining in Israel and the West Bank. Roots of Peace campaigned for this legislation and will begin demining a village near Bethlehem before the end of 2011.

Congolese Soldiers Learn To Combat Uxo And Mines, Amanda Mccarty

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article focuses on how U.S. Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM) supports the Democratic Republic of the Congo in carrying out its mine-action objectives by providing train-the-trainer and supervisory services and mine-action equipment to the DRC.

Landmines In Libya, Colin King

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Landmines are an unfortunate part of Libya’s past and present. As such, the author discusses the various types of mines that have been found so far, providing a technical overview of each. With his landmine analysis, King warns of the difficulties that lie ahead as deminers begin to address the problem.

Kabul City Clearance Project, Mohammad Akbar Oriakhil

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

After decades of conflict in Afghanistan, the Kabul City Clearance Project is addressing the dangers of mine and unexploded ordnance that pose a threat to the safety and livelihood of Kabul’s expanding urban population. KCCP is an 18-month collaborative project that utilizes the resources of Afghan Technical Consultants, a local clearance nongovernmental organization, to implement a mine-clearance plan in 36 impacted communities.

Nepal Declared Mine-Free, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

After four years of demining operations, Nepal’s final landmine was destroyed on 14 June 2011, rendering the country officially mine-free.

Mine-Action Challenges And Responses In Georgia, Emil M. Hasanov, Petri Nevalainen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Following an international conflict in 2008, Georgia faces a greater threat from landmines and explosive remnants of war than that posed by previous violence. In response to this threat, Georgia, with assistance provided by the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) and the Government of Canada, created national bodies to coordinate and implement landmine and ERW clearance. This article documents Georgia’s past ERW, landmine and cluster-munitions contamination, as well as efforts to remove these threats.

Npa’S Survey And Clearance Of Cluster Munitions Along The Thailand-Cambodia Border, Atle Karlsen

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The February conflict at the Thailand-Cambodia border over disputed territory has left Cambodia with the burden of clearing cluster munitions. By applying to the Thai-Cambodian conflict strategies for cluster munitions removal that were successful in other post-conflict areas, NPA is assisting the Cambodian Mine Action Centre in cleaning up the problem. Thailand and Cambodia have not acceded to the ban on cluster munitions established in the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions and are therefore not subject to its provisions. Both countries attended the CCM 2011 intersessional meeting in June, leaving many hopeful that the two countries will become States Parties.

New Database Provides Resource For Mine-Action Community, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Launched in July 2011, the World Bank’s Landmine Contamination, Casualties and Clearance database is a valuable resource for those working in mine action. The database allows users to create spreadsheets, reports and graphics based on a wealth of landmine-contamination data from around the world.

Secession Leads To Demining Challenges In Sudan, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In the months following South Sudan’s July 2011 electoral secession from the former Sudan, the South’s ability to successfully maintain a demining program has become heavily dependent on its economic and post-conflict recovery. At this point in time, however, much of the South’s sustainability is ultimately reliant on its relationship with the North and, more significantly, the international community, thereby rendering its demining program into an uncertain future.

Conflict In Libya And The Future Risk To The Demining Community, Adrian King

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The evolving face of modern warfare in Libya and elsewhere will leave behind an explosives legacy that the humanitarian-demining community must manage. This article examines the innovation of the anti-government forces in employing modified weaponry and assesses some of the challenges this might bring to humanitarian demining and explosive-ordnance-disposal teams in the future.

Metal Detector Pinpointing Accuracy Under Field Conditions, Kazunori Takahashi

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

As ordnance and landmine-detection technology advances, mine-action organizations across the world are increasingly using more sophisticated types of metal detectors. Each metal detector contains its own strengths and weaknesses, and until now, no accurate way exists to quantify the differences between the models. In this article, a method is shown to successfully evaluate metal-detector accuracy in a controlled field condition and provides data on the differences between single coil, double-D coil and other metal-detector types. The International Test and Evaluation Program for Humanitarian Demining conducted the 2009 evaluation in Germany that provides the data used in this article.

Lateral-Approach Methodology And Hstamids, Clifford Allen, Shathel Fahs

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

MAG Cambodia has used the Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System (HSTAMIDS) with lateral-approach methodology for three years within an operational field evaluation funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate. MAG’s current research tested the productivity of two ways of using LAM combined with HSTAMIDS against the productivity of the traditional one-man one-lane drill methodology; this article presents the findings.

Toward Locostra: Blast-Resistant Wheels Test, Emanuela Cepolina, Matteo Zoppi, Vittoria Belotti

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Technical Survey, often an efficient method of achieving land release, can also be prohibitively expensive for certain communities due to the utilization of the same hulking, heavily-armored machines used in clearance operations. If Technical Survey could be achieved through the use of less expensive agricultural equipment that is already present in communities near suspected areas, land release could be achieved at a much lower price. The following study explores this possibility by examining the explosion resilience of four different designs of blast-resistant tractor wheels, each made of commercial off-the-shelf components and designed for easy reproduction in mine-affected communities.

Survey And Clearance Of Unexploded Submunitions Versus Landmines And Other Erw, Åsa Gilbert, Michael Creighton

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The authors argue that survey and clearance methods in areas contaminated solely by unexploded submunitions (from cluster munitions) should be different than those in areas contaminated by mines and other explosive remnants of war to achieve the most efficient outcome. This article seeks to explain how and why procedures are different, and proposes a land-release methodology for dealing with unexploded submunitions.

Thailand And Compliance With The Apmbc: Mission Impossible... Or A Feasible Task?, Håvard Bach

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article addresses the mine-action challenges Thailand faces in maintaining compliance with the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. Given the uncertainty of mine locations and the Thailand Mine Action Centre’s limited capacity, the delegation of Thailand’s mine-action resources can be an issue, as hazardous areas can be difficult to determine. The emergence of a new national land-release mineaction standard, however, means that Thailand’s ability to efficiently identify hazardous areas will allow limited resources to be appropriately assigned to areas needing clearance.

Integration Of Clearance Assets, Mark Thompson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Integrating a variety of demining activities, including machines and manual support, is vital to an operation’s efficiency and success. An appropriate integration plan must include analysis of context, support requirements and limitations.

Remote Explosive Scent Tracing Of Explosive Remnants Of War: A Perspective From The 2010 Morogoro Workshop, Brent (Max) Jones, Rune Fjellanger, Christophe Cox, Alan Poling

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In March 2010, a workshop was held in Morogoro, Tanzania, to consider the past, present and future status of the Remote Explosive Scent Tracing system for explosive- remnants-of-war detection. This article summarizes the workshop’s discussions and explains lessons learned from the REST research project in Morogoro.

Using Encapsulated Fluorescent Bioprobes To Detect Explosive Materials In Soil, Clint Smith, Joel Tabb

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

This article examines the methods involved in using fluorescent bioprobes to detect explosive devices within soil. By genetically modifying plants through the injection of certain chemicals, visible responses indicate the presence and placement of explosive material, aiding demining agents in the process of mapping and removing various landmines or other explosive remnants of war. The adoption of these tools proves useful for stand-off detection of low TNT concentrations in the laboratory and controlled microcosm studies.

Land-Release Information Management: Advocating For A Collaborative Approach, Aurora Martinez, Daniel Eriksson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

For land release to become more efficient and less dangerous, operations on the ground need accurate information. Collaboration between information management and operational planning will help increase safety while working toward releasing more land. The most challenging aspect of land release is the identification of boundaries around contaminated areas, and using new information technologies will aid not only operation managers in the area, but also senior managers setting long-term goals.

Strategic Planning And Information Management In Angola, Charles Downs

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

CNIDAH is in charge of coordinating mine action and developing a mine-action strategic plan for Angola—one of the most mined countries in the world. To best implement its plan, in collaboration with national mine-action partners and with the help of the Survey Action Center, CNIDAH has begun to review and update its database of cleared suspected hazardous areas and those still in need of demining efforts.

Mapping Populations At Risk Of Erw, Pierre Lacroix, Jonas Herzog, Daniel Eriksson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Having precise, available data on recorded explosive remnants of war hazards does not necessarily represent the big picture concerning the contamination distribution in a country. However, when available datasets are evaluated with population-density data, heavy concentrations of ERW hazards are more easily detectable. This article examines a few of the many tasks that can be achieved by analyzing ERW hazard data and by combining it with other information.

Building Mine-Action Capacity Through Management Training, Ben Anderson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Cambodian Mine Action Centre is Cambodia’s largest demining organization, established in 1993 to clear Cambodia of landmines and other explosive remnants of war. With funding from the New Zealand government, Quality Solutions International has worked for the last 12 months to rebuild and strengthen CMAC’s management and training capacity. Part of the project was the delivery of three two-week middle- management courses, designed to provide CMAC’s middle managers with a basic grounding in management theory and application.