FIELD BEHAVIOUR OF CHEMICAL

AGENTS
Planning a defence against chemical attacks must consider
the prevailing environmental conditions on the battlefield.

When released, chemical agents are affected by the weather,

terrain and obstacles and like all weapon systems, their
effects will either be increased or limited.

The defence must conduct an assessment to determine the

likelihood of an attack under the conditions and secondly
determine measures which can be taken to minimise the
effectiveness of the attack.
 WIND
 WIND SPEED

 WIND DIRECTION

 MECHANICAL TURBULENCE is the

result of the wind blowing over and
around obstacles such as trees,
buildings and terrain to produce eddies
and currents. This effect dilutes the
agent cloud.
 TEMPERATURE
 A high temperature causes removal of clothing and thus
makes troops more susceptible to an attack with liquid
agents.
 Temperature also affects persistency of liquid agents as
higher temperatures reduces persistency although they
also increase vapour hazards.
 Moderate air temperatures cause increased persistency.
 Extremely low temperatures will freeze and render
agents harmless.
 A hot surface will quickly cause evaporation of liquid
agents in vapour form to rise quickly.
 HUMIDITY

 It causes perspiration and enlargement of the

skin pores allowing deeper penetration of liquids.
 It degrades the protective capabilities of the
protective suit.
 It increases the susceptibility of the skin to
vapour or aerosol agents.
 It breaks down or hydrolyses some agents into
harmless substances.
 PRECIPITATION (RAIN)
 Washes the agent from the air.
 Flushes agents from the vegetation and soil into natural
drainage such as stream beds and low lying areas, which
become contaminated. Therefore drainage around field
defences must be prepared so that the contamination is
controlled.
 Hydrolyses some agents into harmless substances.
 Increase the water vapour in the air reducing the
evaporation of liquid agents and increasing their
persistency.
 Reduces vapour concentrations.
 Snow may freeze agents, rendering them into a more
controllable solid state.

 Clouds have no direct effect on chemical clouds, however

they may alter the temperature gradient.

 Fog is the suspension of minute water droplets in the air.

 Is an obstruction to vision and can be used to hide an agent
cloud.
 Occurs when an inversion temperature gradient exist and
therefore is a most favourable condition for the use of the
agents.
 Can hydrolyse agents, but not to the same degree as rain.
 TERRAIN EFFECT
Terrain can produce local winds which can either be an asset or a
liability to a force defending against chemical agent attack. The
most important effects are:

 Local Thermal Winds. Caused by differential heating

between surfaces having different composition and
temperature. These occur where an open area joins jungle or
where land joins water.
 Slope Winds
 Up Slope Winds. During the day when a strong lapse is
present the exposed slope of a large mountain will be
heated. When the adjacent air layer becomes warmer than
the air above, it will rised upwards along the mountain
slope.
 Down Slope Winds. At night when inversion conditions
exist, the cold air will drain down the mountain slope.
 Onshore and Offshore Breezes.
 Sea Breezes resulted from the land being heated much
faster than the water by day. The air above the land rises
and the cooler sea air rushes in to takes its place. This
causes a wind known as a sea or onshore breeze to
develop.
 Land or Offshore Breezes are the opposite to seabreezes.
They occur at night because the land air is cooler than the
air above the sea.
 VEGETATION EFFECTS
 Vegetation will trap liquid agents thereby decreasing ground
concentration.
 Troops having to force their way through thick undergrowth
sprayed with liquid agents will pick up contamination from leaves,
shrubs and trees at different level.
 Some agent will defoliate trees over a period time.
 In jungle, wind speeds are low.
 Jungle wind are light and variable in direction. They may change
direction as often as three times a minute. This will cause
difficulties in determining whether to unmask or not.
 In sparse vegetation, the wind speed is not affected but the agent
cloud tends to break up due to unpredictable winds eddies and
shifts.
 An agent cloud will penetrate downwards in tropical grasses and
will take quite some time to disperse.
Questions?