Upgraded grid cuts testing time for chem/bio detectors

By Al Vogel, Dugway Proving Ground Public AffairsMarch 28, 2019

Instrument towers with fiber optics box
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Instrument towers at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah are moved about the test grid with a light truck. Once in place, the tower with its instrumentation is raised. The tan box is for fiber optics, transmitting test data at near real-time for archive, for... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Nathan Lee Placing Instrument
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A trailer-mounted 10-meter tower, ready for instrumentation to receive data. The tower may also be folded down for travel or ease in affixing instruments. Dugway is poised to take receipt of a new mobile, fast-data testing system for agent detectors ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Setup panorama
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – 10-meter towers raised in place with instrumentation affixed, ready to test chemical or biological detectors with simulated agent. Northwestern Utah, where Dugway Proving Ground is located, adds authenticity because it geographically resembles the Mi... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Tower, with setup and utilities
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A mobile, 10-meter instrumentation tower ready for testing with instrumentation for meteorology, infrared, referee chemical or biological detectors, etc. Each trailer carries an electrical generator, data storage and communications for rapid transmis... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The multi-million-dollar upgrade is funded by the Joint Project Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD), based in Maryland. The JPEO-CBD is the Department of Defense's office for research, development, acquisition, fielding and life-cycle support of biological, chemical and nuclear defense equipment and medical countermeasures.

The JPEO-CBD supports all services, Special Operations Command and other government agencies that need to defend against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats.

The TGSI Upgrade will offer greater versatility, and real-time review of test data during outdoor field testing under simulated chemical and biological threat scenarios. Under the previous system, testers and customers had to wait for data to be collected and manually converted to a more useable format, which could take weeks. The real-time delivery of field test data is one of the major improvements that TGSI provides.

Outdoors, only simulated agent is used; Dugway only conducts defensive testing: protective clothing, decontaminators, air filtration, etc.

The TGSI upgrade employs WiFi towers, fiber optics and specialized software to secure and archive test data, displayed in real-time to authorized testers and customers within Dugway.

Nathan Lee, Project Manager for the Test Grid Safari Instrumentation Upgrade, said the new test system will save the Army money, and provide the customer faster data -turnaround, thus allowing for quicker and more effective decision making during testing.

Test instrumentation is mounted on flatbed trucks and trailers, some of which carry generators for power delivery, and some for data storage, communications, and a 10-meter tower that folds down for easy field transport and instrument attachment. The design is meant to provide quick setup and execution of testing in any location on Dugway.

Such mobility (hence the word, "Safari") promotes the testing of detectors in challenging, authentic sites on Dugway: canyons, ravines, hillsides, wherever defenders may need an early warning.

Turn-over of the Test Grid Safari Instrumentation system to Dugway Proving Ground this summer ultimately means heightened protection throughout the world, as the very latest detectors can be tested and become available to U.S. forces and their allies with greater speed.

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