Predicting Direction of Toxic Releases

Challenge

Protecting the nation from deliberate acts of terrorism (such as anthrax) or from a toxic release caused by a natural disaster or an industrial or transportation accident. 

Solution

Homeland Security Technologies – NCAR has joined with other federal agencies to develop new technologies that make our communities less vulnerable to biological and chemical attack. Our Source-Term Estimation method research applies a variety of algorithms to the latest weather prediction and transport-and-diffusion models to help emergency managers reconstruct a release, and to develop a better situational awareness of how a population was exposed.

Benefits

This technology was successfully integrated into the US Department of Defense (DoD) emergency response modeling systems—HPAC (Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability) and JEM (Joint Effects Model) in 2012.

Contact

Please direct questions/comments about this page to:

Scott Swerdlin

Director, National Security Applications Program

email