OBJECTIVE
There are many locations within the National Capital Region (NCR) that must be protected against the intentional release of hazardous airborne material. For this purpose, NCAR has developed data assimilation and modeling systems that are used to provide meteorological input to transport and diffusion (T&D) models applied to the NCR.
DESCRIPTION
MM5-based data-assimilation and forecasting systems are used routinely, and for special events, to provide meteorological input to T&D models applied to the NCR. For example, an MM5 modeling system provided input to a Defense Threat Reduction Agency T&D model for protection against the intentional or accidental release of hazardous airborne material near the January 2005 Presidential Inauguration. The Pentagon protection system also incorporates the Variational Doppler Radar Assimilation System (VDRAS), and the Variational Lidar Assimilation System (VLAS), and two other MM5-based modeling systems that provide wind products for the entire NCR. These would be used in the event of an emergency.
Main project sponsor:
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA)
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
