Urban Meteorology for Homeland Security

1. Urban Meteorology for Homeland Security Presented to Urban Meteorology Forum September 21, 2004 Nancy Suski Director Emergency Preparedness & Response Programs, Plans & Budget Nancy.suski@dhs.gov 202-254-5743 Science & Technology Directorate

2. Whatever the situation - emergency responders are there first.

3. DHS capabilities can be strengthened by support from the meteorological community • Systems studies and planning tools • Detection and characterization • Urban monitoring • Facility protection • Agriculture • Response and Recovery • Forensics and attribution • Field demonstrations

4. Systems Studies • System Studies Supported by Countermeasure Simulations • Detailed, integrated, interactive, real-time, multiple-scale, multiple technology simulations needed at local, regional, national and global levels. • Large scope and diversity in coupling bio-surveillance, consequence management, and public health/agricultural response system simulations. • Real-time and archived meteorological data appropriate to multiple systems and applications is required to support objectives.

5. Detect and Characterize Urban Monitoring Wide Area (BioWatch) + Building Clusters + Hi-value Facilities Targeted Monitoring Special Events Agriculture

6. Wide Area Monitoring • Sensor Placement • Meteorological data needed at appropriate resolution to optimize sensor placement • High value assets • Wide-Area monitoring • Special events • Agricultural assets

7. Urban Meteorology • Urban Canopy Characterization • Complex terrain observed in typical cityscape requires a better understanding of flow fields in the urban environment • Uncertainties in model input data and predictions • Acquire quality-assured datasets for urban dispersion model development and validation • Uncertainties in met data and forecast data need to be characterized • Models need to be validated with data from field trials .

8. Incident Characterization & Emergency Response • Modeling and prediction tools needed to support incident characterization • High resolution real-time and archived meteorological nowcast and forecast data needed to support modeling.

9. ….and making our cities safer and more resilient to attack… Making our nation safer and more resilient to attack Interagency Modeling & Assessment Center (IMAAC) New York City Urban Dispersion Program Biological Warning & Incident Characterization System Study PROTECT & PROACT facility protection

10. Interagency Modeling & Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) • Integrates the best and brightest scientific capability with the vast emergency response capacity of the federal government • Distributes atmospheric hazard predictions to federal, state, and local response agencies to assure a common operating picture • Provides expert interpretation of results to federal, state, and local government, especially DHS HSOC and FEMA NEOC • Eliminates confusing and conflicting hazard predictions

11. IMAAC Implementation Plan • Interagency Modeling and Assessment Center has been created under DHS leadership with an interagency steering committee • Interim operations have been established at the National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center in Livermore, CA • IMAAC will support a collaborative R&D program as well as a 24/7 operational capabilities • Operations include • Production & distribution of hazards products • Participation in National Exercise Program • Training and awareness programs on IMAAC access and products • Connectivity to federal, state and local EOCs and incident command posts, as needed • Expert “on site” liaisons

12. NYC Urban Dispersion ProgramGeneral Objectives • Enhance NYC’s emergency capabilities for addressing potential airborne releases of harmful materials. • Advance our understanding and characterization of the effects of urban processes on atmospheric dispersion in large cities leading to improved and validated urban parameterizations for atmospheric dispersion models. • Couple indoor and outdoor studies to further our understanding and characterization of outdoor-indoor exchange.

13. Urban Dispersion ProgramApproach • Meteorological Network Task - Enhance the meteorological network in and around NYC to more effectively describe the complex circulations governing dispersion. Provide data in “near-real-time” to centers. • Radiological Monitoring Network Task - Enhance a network of radiological monitors for detecting radiological threats in NYC. Provide data in “near-real-time” to centers. • Field Studies Task - Conduct tracer field studies to understand and characterize urban processes affecting dispersion and provide data to evaluate models. Conduct coupled outdoor-indoor field studies. • Urban Modeling Task - Exercise existing meteorological and dispersion models to help design the networks and field studies. Advance parameterizations of the effects of urban processes on atmospheric dispersion. • Technology Transfer Task - Transfer the technologies to NYC emergency personnel. Ongoing throughout the duration of the program.

14. BWIC - An integrated system for bio-warning and incident characterization Biological Warning and Incident Characterization System Detects all level of attacks Integrated Biosurveillance For all delivery Detecting the Effects of the Agent means (air, water, food, vector - borne) (Public Health, Syndromic , Non - Traditional & Animal/Plant) Limited to epidemic & outcome stages Incident BioWarning / Incident Effective Response Characterization Strategies Characterization System Tools (plume modeling, Epi - modeling) Detects large attacks Environmental Monitoring Allows earliest medical Detecting the Agent Directly intervention (Wide Area Monitoring, Hi - value Facilities & Special Events) Defense of Cities Study Defense of Cities Study The Washington Institute & Sandia National The Washington Institute & Sandia National Laboratories Laboratories

15. Program for Response Options and Technology Enhancements for Chem/Bio Terrorism (PROTECT) • Network of chemical sensors linked to metro video surveillance • Transitioned to operational status under WMATA in DC Metro FY03 • Provides below and above ground plume predications • Similar test bed established in Boston Metro FY03

16. Protective and Responsive Options for Airport Counter-Terrorism(PROACT) • Goals • Increase near-term preparedness • Develop assessment processes for defense system design • Demonstrate chemical & biological defense components • Activities • Vulnerability assessment • Model-based analysis • Facility characterization tests • Bio-detection system development & testing • Chemical detector testing Bio-Chem facility protection options for airports

17. Summary of DHS Urban Meteorological Requirements • Wide-Area Monitoring • Localized high resolution data to support sensor placement and effective detection strategies • System Studies – Modeling and Simulation • Real-time, integrated hazard prediction/analysis tools using high resolution-meteorological data • Incident Characterization and Response Strategies • Validation- Field Demonstrations • Validated models with well quantified uncertainties • Support field demonstrations to test prototype technologies

18. Collaboration among federal, state and local assets for emergency response is an essential element homeland security