Publications Details

Blue Canyon Dome: Development of a Small-Scale Testbed for Monitoring Underground Explosions

Ingraham, Mathew D.; Young, Brian A.; Grubelich, Mark C.; Pope, Joseph S.; Robey, Richard E.; Myers, Taylor A.; Schwering, Paul C.; Roberts, Barry L.; Williams, Michelle

This report documents the development of the Blue Canyon Dome (BCD) testbed, including test site selection, development, instrumentation, and logistical considerations. The BCD testbed was designed for small-scale explosive tests (~5 kg TNT equivalence maximum) for the purpose of comparing diagnostic signals from different types of explosives, the assumption being that different chemical explosives would generate different signatures on geophysical and other monitoring tools. The BCD testbed is located at the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center near Socorro, New Mexico. Instrumentation includes an electrical resistivity tomography array, geophones, distributed acoustic sensing, gas samplers, distributed temperature sensing, pressure transducers, and high-speed cameras. This SAND report is a reference for BCD testbed development that can be cited in future publications.