Methodology for Measurement of Fog Oil Smoke Penetration into a Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Nest Cavity

Abstract : The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker (RCW) is a threatened and endangered species of bird found predominately in the Southeast United States. Of particular interest to the U.S. Army are the colonies that reside on the U.S. Army installations throughout the Southeast. For years, the U.S. Army has been using battlefield smokes for training and development. The possible impact smoke usage may have on the environment and enactment of new clean air legislation nationwide has begun to limit open air smoke testing and training at numerous Army and Department of Defense locations. While smoke plume modeling and measurement studies, and environmental fate and effects work has been done to assess the impact of many smoke materials, data is limited concerning the possible protection that a tree trunk nest cavity may afford its inhabitant. This project represents the first look at the potential for Fog Oil aerosol to penetrate into a tree trunk nest cavity. Test data indicate that 60% of the challenge Fog Oil smoke may penetrate man-made model nest cavities. Testing using harvested RCW made nest cavities indicated up to 90% penetration under certain testing conditions.