REPORT OF THE ISS OSI INVITED MEETING, VIENNA, 24-27 MARCH, 2009

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences (Physical Sciences)

The International Scientific Studies project (ISS) was initiated in early 2008 with the objective of creating a series of activities aimed at application of modern scientific methods to improve the efficiency of analysis and the quality of verification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The ISS On-Site Inspection (OSI) Invited Meeting convened on March 24, 2009 with the objectives of gaining a better understanding of the phenomenology of underground nuclear explosions (UNE) for OSI purposes and to identify areas of interest to OSI that could benefit significantly from contributions by the general scientific community. Fifteen invited experts from four countries, along with fifteen members of the OSI Division of the Provisional Technical Secretariat (PTS) met for four days at the Vienna International Center in an informal setting to discuss the application of observational methods, geophysical techniques, radionuclide measurement methods, environmental sampling methods, drilling techniques, and information management in the context UNE phenomena and OSI implementation. The meeting began with the identification and description of two general OSI scenarios, a vertical borehole emplacement and a horizontal tunnel emplacement, that serve as general examples of past UNE testing activities that can be used as a reference to identify UNE phenomena relevant for OSI observations. A significant portion of the first day of the meeting was spent in the description of the details of these scenarios and their implications for OSI observables. This discussion then served as a foundation for the discussions of the following three days in which OSI methods and technologies were evaluated in the context of UNE phenomenology and signatures. The methods and technologies discussed included visual observation from air and ground, radiation detection from the air, ground, and subsurface, ground-based and airborne geophysical observations and analysis, collection strategies for air, water, and solid samples, drilling concepts, and aspects of data fusion, information management, and modeling and simulation. The informal setting of the meeting provided a 'brainstorming' atmosphere and participation was excellent. One important aspect of this particular group was the very wide breadth of experience and expertise represented, ranging from those sharing their knowledge of UNE testing practice, radiological measurements and sampling, and knowledge of the underground effects of UNEs, to those with extensive experience in scientific and commercial geophysical measurements and surveys, to others with rich experience gained from several OSI field exercises, including the recent OSI Integrated Field Exercise in held in Kazakhstan in September 2008. During the workshop a number of topic areas relevant to OSI, explained in the list below, were identified that will benefit from collaboration with the international scientific community. Most of the topics represent the potential for studies of long-term interest, but some topics were identified that could be addressed, either by workshop participants or others known to the participants, that could be included as abstracts for submission to the ISS meeting taking place in June 2009. Items with topics that could be covered in the June meeting are annotated in the list. The meeting ended with the general understanding that ISS will not be completed with the June 2009 Conference. Rather, the ISS is considered as a long term project sponsoring relevant ongoing international scientific initiatives to expand and improve the verification capabilities of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty.