Using rapid environmental assessment to improve the hazard prediction and assessment capability for weapons of mass destruction

Abstract

The Oceanographer of the Navy is responsible for the environmental data portion of the "4-D cube". This is a new concept that creates a Virtual Natural Environment that must be capable of rapid environmental updates. This research investigates using in situ atmospheric measurements to improve the performance of the Navy mesoscale model, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System. These enhanced, operational model forecasts are used to supply atmospheric forcing to a dispersion model, the Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability, and the outcome is evaluated to determine the impact of the additional data.