Analysis of vehicle platoon movement and speed-spacing relationships during military exercises

In this study a method that identifies off-road vehicle column movement was developed and evaluated. Previous studies have revealed that multiple vehicle passes produce detrimental soil and terrain impacts. Identifying the frequency and location of this type of multi-pass impact during military maneuvers is difficult. This method will aid in the assessment of environmental impacts of off-road military vehicles by allowing land managers to characterize vehicle movement patterns, especially column movement, at military training installations during maneuvers. GPS units mounted on military vehicles collected on and off-road tracking data during a reconnaissance maneuver at Fort Lewis Military Installation, Washington. A set of data utilizing a Stryker platoon of four vehicles was used to evaluate this method. The GPS coordinates, speed, and direction of travel of each vehicle was collected at each second. A criteria to identify platoon column movement was developed based on vehicle proximity, speed and direction of travel. The results of this study show that the method can correctly identify off-road column movement for the purpose of evaluating the multi-pass impacts on the terrain. In addition, using this approach the vehicle movement patterns associated with on- and off-road platoon movement (i.e. vehicle speeds and spacing) were evaluated.