scope:

This standard is intended to provide methods for determining blast wave characteristics for single point or spherical explosions, estimating the variations of characteristics caused by the atmospheric medium of propagation, and predicting the expected effects on populations and structures. It applies to chemical or nuclear explosions, of yields ranging from about 1 kg to many megatons, at burst heights to at least 50 km altitude, and to distances where wave pressure amplitudes drop below 1 Pa. The phenomenology is less well defined for many practical explosions of distributed charges or shapes, wholly or partially confined explosions, either underground or underwater. In many cases, however, these effects may be normalized and an equivalent point explosion used for evaluation.