The aim of this project is to produce a database of soil characteristics which would assist developers and users to predict metal detector performance and associated problems in a geographical region. In order to do this the partners will conduct a scooping study in the short term which would define the information currently available in the numerous soil databases and to define the parameters and level of effort required for the conduct of a longer term study. The longer-term study would examine the data requirements that are pertinent to metal detector performance, identify gaps in databases, and propose a field collection plan to cover the mine-affected countries.