Analysis of vehicle use patterns during field training exercises to identify potential roads

In October of 2001, global positioning system (GPS) - based vehicle tracking systems (VTS) were placed on 20 vehicles involved in an 8-day field training exercise at Yakima Training Center, Washington. Based on the GPS data, an analysis of the potential for identifying new roads was conducted. Analysis of vehicle use patterns within selected 25-m grids was utilized to identify new formed or previously unidentified roads in the training area. The factors used to determine the existence of these new roads were (1) if a vehicle actually passed through the grid, (2) the number of vehicles following the same trail segment, (3) if the vehicles passed on different days, (4) if the vehicles were in different troops, and (5) if the vehicles traveled in both directions. A site visit was conducted and confirmed the existence of new roads along segments that met all five criteria levels. Military road class 4 and 5 roads were identified at sites meeting all five criteria.