CBR Modeling and Simulation Tool (CBRSim)

In conjunction with the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL), Argonne National Laboratory researchers have developed a new analytical tool for facility managers and first responders to chemical, biological, or radiological (CBR) attacks. Called CBRSim, the tool offers benefits as a training and educational aid for those responsible for operations and force protection at Army installations [1]. Background and Project Objectives The Department of Defense requires annual vulnerability assessments, realistic force protection exercises, and emergency response planning at Army installations. An accidental or intentional release of a CBR agent could infiltrate heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and quickly contaminate a building and its surrounding area. A simulation tool is a cost-effective way to analyze and understand CBR attacks and their impacts on critical facilities and other assets. (Expensive simulant experiments and sensors would interfere with normal base operations.) This project provides such a tool and demonstrates its potential uses on an Army installation by means of a case analysis, workshop, and training exercise (Figure 1).

Technologies Used Argonne wrapped the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.s Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC) as the atmospheric dispersion model for the release parameters of the agent to produce contour plumes of human health effects. The CBRSim tool introduces a simple front-end, which allows the user (e.g., a Force Protection Officer) to enter the basic parameters of the incident and produce the effects output. The CBRSim also uses a .leaky box. model developed by Argonne scientists to (1) simulate the Army.s shelter-in-place strategy and (2) display its effects on contamination levels within buildings in the path of the dispersion plume. To augment the types of releases that HPAC can model, another Argonne model, called the Chemical Accident Statistical Risk Assessment Model (CASRAM) [2], is also used. CASRAM models chem-bio releases from aerial spray or leaking tanker sources, which may provide a more realistic view of the origin of the attack/accidental release of hazardous agents. The CBRSim tool builds on the Fort Future Virtual Installation tool. This tool is an agent-based modeling system that can represent human behavior in military logistics operations at Army installations [3].

References

[1] Simunich, K.L., T.K. Perkins, D.M. Bailey, D. Brown, and P. Sydelko, .Demonstration of CBR Modeling and Simulation Tool (CBRSim) Capabilities,. ERDC/CERL TR-09-39April 2009; available at http://libweb.wes.army.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/CERL-TR-09-39.pdf (May require overriding your pop-up blocker.)

[2] Brown, D.F., W.E. Dunn, and A.J. Policastro, A National Risk Assessment for Selected Hazardous Materials in Transportation, ANL/DIS-01, Argonne National Laboratory

[3] Bozada, T.A., T.K. Perkins, M.J. North, K.L. Simunich, and E. Tatara, 2006, An Applied Approach to Representing Human Behavior in Military Logistics Operations,. presented at the fall 2006 Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization, Orlando, FL.