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Articles 1 - 16 of 16
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Maxml: Coordinating Mine Action With Xml Technologies, Dionysia Kontotasiou, Olivier Cottray
Maxml: Coordinating Mine Action With Xml Technologies, Dionysia Kontotasiou, Olivier Cottray
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The Mine Action XML (maXML) is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema developed by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). It aims to standardize data management and data exchange among actors in the mine action community, which includes individuals and groups involved in any aspect of addressing the landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination. In this field, data exchange is mostly manual and often has to deal with chaotic environments. The goal of maXML is to contribute to the automatization of many of these processes, saving valuable time for staff in the field and improving the …
Special Report: Solomon Islands’ Explosive Legacy, Mette Eliseussen, John Rodsted
Special Report: Solomon Islands’ Explosive Legacy, Mette Eliseussen, John Rodsted
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
The Solomon Islands encompass over 900 islands scattered across the ocean north of Australia and east of Papua New Guinea. Many of the 500,000 inhabitants still live with unknown quantities of explosive remnants of war (ERW) left behind from combat between Japan and the United States during World War II. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) of both U.S. and Japanese origin remains on some of the nation’s atolls. Since the end of the war, sporadic clearance was undertaken, including through Operation Render Safe, a joint clearance program between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There have also …
Explosive Remnants Of War Contamination Response In Libya, Damir Djakovic, Katarina Cvikl Balić
Explosive Remnants Of War Contamination Response In Libya, Damir Djakovic, Katarina Cvikl Balić
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Abu Grain is a town located 106 km (66 mi) east of Misrata and 138 km (86 mi) west of Sirte with an estimated population of 2,000 inhabitants. The town is known for its strategic road intersection connecting the Mediterranean cities of Misrata and Sirte with the desert district of Jufra. Between February and March 2016, Abu Grain’s population fled as Islamic State (IS) group forces advanced into town in an attempt to expand control toward the west of its stronghold in Sirte. According to the Libyan Red Crescent, Abu Grain’s inhabitants mostly fled to Bani Walid, Misrata, and Tripoli.
Adapting The Erw Community To Combat Ied Threats, Brad Alford, Michael Kennedy
Adapting The Erw Community To Combat Ied Threats, Brad Alford, Michael Kennedy
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In Iraq and other regions soon to be liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), recovery and stability efforts are hindered by improvised explosive devices (IED), which threaten civilians returning home and/or assisting with reconstruction. According to Relief Web, the Anbar Provincial Council “discourage[d] the premature return of internally displaced persons (IDP) to Fallujah due to the remaining IEDs left behind by the Islamic state of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants.”This threat, coupled with the consequences of an asymmetrical conflict, has changed the operating environments encountered by organizations that respond to explosive remnants of war (ERW). …
Working From A Distance In War-Affected Libya, Nikolaj Søndergaard
Working From A Distance In War-Affected Libya, Nikolaj Søndergaard
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
A unique partnership between DanChurchAid (DCA) and Lebanese authorities facilitates explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training for Libyan authorities, who can now start their own national EOD teams and begin the clearance process.
Flail Technology In Demining, Ashish Juneja
Flail Technology In Demining, Ashish Juneja
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
With the use of rollers, tillers and chain flails, the focus of minefield clearance has shifted since the early 1980’s from military to humanitarian demining. These machines can clear 200–300 mm of soil depending on the speed of the vehicle and its configuration, the soil type and the terrain. Unfortunately, heavy machines are difficult to operate at these slow speeds unless large amounts of power are available to run and rotate the flails. Moreover, recent literature cites the use of modern technology in demining (e.g., infrared imaging, ground penetration radar, thermal neutron activation and X-ray tomography). Mechanical machines, however, are …
From The Field: Mobile Technologies For Mine Action, Torsten Vikstrom
From The Field: Mobile Technologies For Mine Action, Torsten Vikstrom
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Breakthroughs in technology development transformed desktop computers into small, powerful mobile units equipped with intelligent software and extensive possibilities to connect and interact. Alternatively, the world of mine action still depends on manual work done with pen and paper, and the process of field data collection is especially exposed. However, field tests show that the use of mobile technology vastly improves safety and increases the effectiveness of field work. Adapting to new mobile technologies for field data collection will also positively affect the ways in which we gather, share, analyze, monitor and evaluate information.
Mobile Technologies: Uxo Lao's Easy Sketch Map, Hayashi Ontoku Akihito
Mobile Technologies: Uxo Lao's Easy Sketch Map, Hayashi Ontoku Akihito
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Established in 1996, the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao) promotes risk education and clears land for agriculture, community purposes (e.g., schools, hospitals, temples and water supplies) and other development activities. UXO Lao is working in the nine most impacted Lao provinces nationwide. Although recent changes occurred to UXO Lao’s survey procedure, the program continues mapping out contaminated areas throughout the country.
Afghanistan’S National Mine Action Strategic Plan (2016–2021), Mohammad Akbar Oriakhil
Afghanistan’S National Mine Action Strategic Plan (2016–2021), Mohammad Akbar Oriakhil
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Afghanistan suffers from severe landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination, mostly as a result of the Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989), internal conflict lasting from 1992 to 1996, and the United States-led coalition intervention in late 2001.
The Uxo Sector In Laos, Titus Peachey
The Uxo Sector In Laos, Titus Peachey
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Nearly fifty years after the nine-year Secret War (1964–1973), Laos is the scene of a US$35–$40 million annual enterprise, employing more than 3,000 workers who, with assistance from governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) around the world, are engaged in unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, victim assistance and mine risk education (MRE). The 2.2 million tons of bombs included an estimated 270 million cluster munitions, many of which failed to detonate on impact and created a lethal landscape to which villagers returned after the war. The inevitable post-war casualties now number more than 20,000. A high percentage of victims over the past …
Finding Legacy Minefields In The Jordan Valley, Jamal Odibat
Finding Legacy Minefields In The Jordan Valley, Jamal Odibat
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Due to the many difficulties in accurately determining the location of legacy minefields, demining personnel need traditional and sometimes improvised methods for locating and verifying contamination. With a unique combination of terrain, vegetation, water resources and soil types, the Jordan Valley requires specialized minefield survey and clearance methods to avoid harming the environment.
Maximizing The Effectiveness Of Mobile Technology, Howard Rudat
Maximizing The Effectiveness Of Mobile Technology, Howard Rudat
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Mobile technology has transformed the way we live our lives and has the potential to dramatically assist in demining. However, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems coupled with explosive remnants of war (ERW) related applications leave capability gaps and create potential risks that must be closed. A more tailored and deliberate ecosystem approach when employing mobile technology will yield greater benefits and avoid the problems encountered when Alexa, Cortana, Google Now or Siri do not provide the necessary information. It seems that at the times when you need information the most, the smart personal assistants provided by Google, Apple and Microsoft either …
Mobile Technology In Mine Action: The Fulcrum Application, Camille Wallen, Nick Torbet
Mobile Technology In Mine Action: The Fulcrum Application, Camille Wallen, Nick Torbet
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In 2014, The HALO Trust (HALO) began trialing Fulcrum, a mobile data collection application for survey developed by Fulcrum Mobile Solutions. Due to the success of the trial, the subscription-based commercial product, designed specifically for mobile data collection, was used in eight HALO programs. Using Fulcrum, HALO has created 35 applications that collect data for a variety of outputs, including rapid contamination assessments, socioeconomic and impact surveys, minefield quality assurance checks, vehicle and logistics checks, and a number of reports including technical and nontechnical surveys, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), mine risk education (MRE), and daily minefield stats reports.
An Overview Of Mozambique’S Mine-Free District Process, Antonio Belchior Vaz Martíns, Hans Risser
An Overview Of Mozambique’S Mine-Free District Process, Antonio Belchior Vaz Martíns, Hans Risser
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
In the 1990s, Mozambique ranked among countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, and Iraq as one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world. At the time, experts estimated that clearing all landmines in Mozambique would take 50 to 100 years. Landmines were widely used by all sides during the conflicts that ravaged Mozambique from the mid-1960s until 1992. These nuisance minefields usually consisted of small numbers of mines in seemingly random or undefined areas mostly around paths, wells and rural infrastructure. Large-pattern minefields tended to be the exception rather than the norm in Mozambique. Given the …
Tiramisu Final Technology Demonstration At Sedee-Dovo, Yann Yvinec, Vinciane Lacroix, Yvan Baudoin
Tiramisu Final Technology Demonstration At Sedee-Dovo, Yann Yvinec, Vinciane Lacroix, Yvan Baudoin
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
On 24 September 2015, and in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, the Royal Military Academy of Belgium (RMA) organized a demonstration for mine action tools in Meerdael, Belgium. At the Belgian EOD battalion premises of SEDEE-DOVO, RMA presented technology developed under the TIRAMISU project, which was co-funded by the European Union and coordinated by RMA. Designed by twenty-six different organizations, the tools covered multiple elements of mine action, including survey, operation and validation, information management, mine risk education (MRE), close-in-detection, and personnel protective equipment (PPE). Organizers held inside and outside demonstrations as well as discussions …
The Argument For Thermal Treatment: Bosnia And Herzegovina, Chad Clifton
The Argument For Thermal Treatment: Bosnia And Herzegovina, Chad Clifton
The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction
Historically, large, aging conventional weapons stockpiles in Bosnia and Herzegovina have been a challenge to regional security in Eastern Europe and potentially beyond. The International Trust Fund Enhancing Human Security (ITF), the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA), and many other donors have funded stockpile reduction efforts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in surrounding regions since 1999. Currently, PM/WRA funds U.S.-based contractor Sterling International Group, LLC (Sterling) to destroy weapons stockpiles under a bilateral technical agreement between the United States and the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under this …