Mapping the passability of soils for vehicle movement

There are different types of trafficability – the trafficability of woods, waters, soils, towns, etc. This means that trafficability is a very broad concept and concern. Soils are a major continuum of the landscape, and significantly affect trafficability. This is especially true for areas where transportation infrastructure is sparse, or for those areas where circumstances make it impossible to use established transportation corridors. Military Units prefer trafficking through open terrain, as it is usually the simplest way. Taking this into consideration, this text primarily focuses on the trafficability of soils. Why is trafficability so important? There are many critical situations wherein military forces must traverse diverse types of terrain and cannot be limited to roads or existing corridors. Because these types of infrastructure are vulnerable to destruction from either enemy attack or natural disasters, the ability to remain mobile and cross many different terrain types is a necessity for the armed forces. Therefore it is of utmost importance to know whether a terrain is actually trafficable. Trafficability is the capacity of soils to support vehicles.