Document Details

OPERATION REDWING - PROJECT 1.3, AIR BLAST AND SHOCK PHENOMENA BY PHOTOGRAPHY (DELETED)

BELLIVEAU, L J; HANLON, P

REDWING PROJECT; PHOTOGRAPHS; BLAST EFFECTS; ZUNI EVENT; INCA EVENT; MOHAWK EVENT; SEMINOLE EVENT; CHEROKEE EVENT; DATA

Location - DOE/NNSA NUCLEAR TESTING ARCHIVE Address - P.O. Box 98521 City - Las Vegas State - NV Zip - 89193-8521 Phone - (702)794-5106 Fax - (702)862-4240 Email - NTA@NV.DOE.GOV

REPORT

1959 Sep 22

Sanitized

0042

NV0015218

WT1303EX

DEFENSE ATOMIC SUPPORT AGENCY, DOD

1994 Aug 26

2003 Sep 18

PROJECT 1.3 PARTICIPATED IN SHOTS CHEROKEE, LACROSSE, ZUNI, INCA, MOHA WK, AND SEMINOLE. NO SHOCK PHOTOGRAPHY DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM CHEROKE E AS THE RESULT OF A BOMBING ERROR. THE SMOKE-ROCKET TECHNIQUE WAS USE D DURING ZUNI AND LACROSSE AND USABLE DATA WERE OBTAINED. DIRECT-SHOCK PHOTOGRAPHY WAS USED DURING INCA, MOHAWK AND SEMINOLE. ONLY FRAGMENTAR Y SHOCKS WERE OBSERVED ON INCA AND MOHAWK FILMS, AND NO SHOCK WAS OBSE RVED IN SEMINOLE FILMS. SHOT ZUNI WAS A GROUND-SURFACE BURST OF 3.53 + 0.18 MT. PRESSURE-DISTANCE DATA WERE OBTAINED OVER THE SURFACE (WATER) AND ABOVE GROUND ZERO TO DISTANCES OF 14,000 AND 13,000 FEET, RESPECTI VELY. THE SURFACE DATA WERE COMPATIBLE WITH THE DATA OBTAINED FROM PRE VIOUS OPERATIONS. THE PRESSURE-DISTANCE DATA OBTAINED ABOVE GROUND ZER O IS NOT IN AGREEMENT WITH AVAILABLE METHODS OF PREDICTING PEAK OVERPR ESSURES ABOVE GROUND ZERO. HOWEVER, A QUALITATIVE PICTURE CAN BE GIVEN IN TERMS OF PHENOMENA OBSERVED ON HIGH-EXPLOSIVE TESTS AND ON THEORETI CAL PREDICTIONS BASED ON THE EFFECTS OF ATMOSPHERIC NONHOMOGENEITY. SH OT LACROSSE WAS A SURFACE BURST WITH A RECOMMENDED YIELD OF 39.5 + 3 K T. PEAK-SHOCK OVERPRESSURE-DISTANCE DATA WAS OBTAINED ALONG THE SURFAC E, AND IT WAS NOTED THAT THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE DATA AND THAT OBTAINED BY OTHER AGENCIES OVER A LAND SURFACE. NO D ATA WAS OBTAINED ABOVE GROUND ZERO. THE CAMERAS DID NOT OPERATE AT STA TION 1514 (MACK TOWER); CONSEQUENTLY, A STUDY OF THE THERMAL EFFECTS O VER THE LAND SURFACE CANNOT BE MADE. SHOT INCA WAS DETONATED ON A 200- FOOT TOWER. PRESSURE-DISTANCE DATA WAS OBTAINED TO A DISTANCE OF 1,050 FEET ALONG THE SURFACE. NO ANGLES FOR THE PRECURSOR COULD BE RELIABLY READ FROM THE FILMS. SHOT MOHAWK WAS DETONATED ON A 300-FOOT TOWER. ON NLY A FRAGMENT OF A SHOCK WAVE WAS OBSERVED ON THE FILMS. THIS FRAGMEN TARY SHOCK OCCURRED ALONG A RADIAL LINE APPROXIMATELY 10 DEGREES ABOVE THE HORIZONTAL THAT PASSED THROUGH A PROTRUSION FROM THE FIREBALL. BEC AUSE OF THE ASYMMETRIC CONFIGURATION THE DATA OBTAINED DID NOT COMPARE WITH SCALED DATA FROM OTHER SHOTS. SHOT SEMINOLE WAS A DEVICE DETONATE D AT THE SURFACE IN A LARGE TANK OF WATER. NO SHOCK WAVE WAS VISIBLE I N THE FILMS EXAMINED. SOME EXPLOSION PROFILES WITH TIME ARE PRESENTED IN THREE VIEWS OF THE SHOT LOCATION. THIS DOCUMENT IS A DELETED VERSION.