Desk Study Vital to Identifying UXO Risks

Article by Guest Author Maarten Bosma.

It has been a while since I wrote for UXOInfo.com and through this article, I hope to show the connection between a desk study we performed and the following field survey. For a project in The Netherlands, our client requested a desk study to get information about the possible risks of UXO in the project area. The size of the area is approximately 160 acres, and the client wanted to identify locations in the project area where there is a high risk for UXO.

During the desk study we used several sources like the aerial photography and ordnance maps from WWII as well as records from the National Archives in London and Washington. In the information available in the Archives, we found that the presence of these bombs in the project area was the result of a possible emergency jettison.

When we used the additional information we gained from the aerial photography and ordnance maps, we could pinpoint in which area the possible jettison happened. Later we added this information to our inventory maps.

The desk study resulted in a high risk area for UXO (red area in the map), specifically the risk of 30 pound incendiary bombs. During the field survey, a UXO clearance company located three of these bombs within the high risk area. The locations of the three bombs were added to the map with green dots. In the picture below you will see one of the 30 pound incendiary bombs which was found in the project area.

The conclusion of this project is that the use of records from Archives in combination with ordnance maps and aerial photography can provide a lot of information which is essential for future field surveys and risk analyses.

Figure 1 Part of the UXO risk map for incendiary bombs

Figure 2 Found 30 Lb incendiary bomb on the location