The Role of the Environmental Specialist Team in At-Sea Tests

he natural environment is the medium in which the National Security Technology Department’s technology fi eld tests are conducted. The environmental scientist and environmental test team—who play a fundamental role in the success of these exercises—identify factors that may impact the feasibility and outcome of the fi eld test as well as those factors of the environment that may be affected during an exercise. In addition, they are responsible for data collection during the test and data analyses after the test. This article discusses the pre-test environmental characterization, data collection, and post-test data analyses conducted by the department.