NISTIR 7826

DHS/NIST Workshop on Homeland 

Security Modeling & Simulation 

June 14-15, 2011

Editors:

Charles McLean

Y. Tina Lee

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Gaithersburg, MD 20899

Dr. Sanjay Jain

George Washington University

Washington, DC 20052

Dr. Charles Hutchings

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, DC 20528 

December 2011

U.S. Department of Commerce

John E. Bryson, Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Patrick D. Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director
ii

Acknowledgments 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), 

sponsored the production of this material under Interagency Agreements HSHQDC-09-X-00009 and 

HSHQDC-09-X-00357 with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The work 

described was funded by the United States Government and is not subject to copyright. 

Disclaimers 

The findings expressed or implied in this report do not necessarily reflect the official view or policy of the 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Commerce, or the United States 

Government. 

Some software products or services may have been identified in the context of this report. This does not 

imply a recommendation or endorsement of the software products or services by the authors or NIST, nor

does it imply that such software products are necessarily the best available for the purpose. 
iii

Foreword 

The U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) jointly hosted a 

Homeland Security Modeling & Simulation (M&S) workshop on June 14 - 15, 2011 at NIST in 

Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

The intent of this workshop was to bring together a wide range of individuals from both government and

private sectors to exchange information and benchmark knowledge on M&S and M&S-related issues for 

homeland security. This was successful since more than 70 people attended the workshop that included 

experts on technical and operational issues from government, industry, and academia. Participants hailed 

from throughout the U.S., Singapore, and Europe. DHS participation included 13 people from six 

different Components. This diversity of DHS participants is very unusual for workshops hosted by 

S&T’s Office of Standards. This reflects a broad, general interest in modeling, simulation, and analysis 

for homeland security. 

M&S and analysis covers lots of ground, and this diversity was reflected by the keynote speakers: 

• Dr. Keith Holtermann (Director of the DHS Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

National Exercise Division). “Modeling & Simulation – An Exercise Perspective” 

• Dr. William Grosshandler (Deputy Director for NIST/EL Building and Fire Research). “DisasterResilient Buildings, Infrastructure, and Communities” 

• Dr. Charles Hutchings (former Deputy Director, Modeling and Simulation, DHS Test & 

Evaluation and Standards Division). “Perspective on the Use of Models and Simulations in 

Problem Solving for Homeland Security” 

Further discussion in four parallel working sessions identified important technical issues and provided 

participants an opportunity to share information in the following domains: 

• Incident Management 

• Critical Infrastructure Systems 

• Hazardous Material Releases 

• Healthcare Systems 

The discussion topics of the working session included: 1) needs and requirements; 2) M&S resources; 3)

best practices; 4) limitations, cautions, and warnings; and 5) research and development, standards, and 

implementation issues. The findings and recommendations in these proceedings augment compendiums 

of information on modeling and simulation for homeland security in each of the four technical domains 

prepared as pre-read materials for the workshop. This work will be of great value to stakeholders in both 

government and private sector to benchmark our knowledge, and support the advancement of M&S 

capabilities for homeland security.

Bert M. Coursey, Ph.D. 

Director of Standards 

Science and Technology Directorate

U.S. Department of Homeland Security
iv

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v

Contents 

Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................................ii

Disclaimers ............................................................................................................................................ii

Credits .................................................................................................................................................vii

1. Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................1

2. Keynote Addresses ......................................................................................................................3

2.1. Dr. Holtermann Keynote Address..................................................................................................................3

2.2. Dr. Grosshandler Keynote Address ...............................................................................................................6

2.3. Dr. Hutchings Keynote Address ....................................................................................................................9

3. Introduction to M&S for Homeland Security.......................................................................... 12

3.1. Hazardous Material Releases.......................................................................................................................13

3.2. Critical Infrastructure...................................................................................................................................15

3.3. Incident Management ..................................................................................................................................19

3.4. Healthcare Systems......................................................................................................................................21

4. Perspectives on Methodologies, Models, and Simulations ....................................................... 25

5. Needs Analysis Overview.......................................................................................................... 32

5.1. Hazardous Material Releases M&S Needs ..................................................................................................32

5.2. Critical Infrastructure M&S Needs..............................................................................................................32

5.3. Incident Management M&S Needs..............................................................................................................35

5.4. Healthcare Systems M&S Needs.................................................................................................................36

6. Identification of M&S Resources.............................................................................................. 38

6.1. Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities ............................................................................................................38

6.2. Simulation Models and Tools ......................................................................................................................40

6.3. Relevant Standards and Guidelines .............................................................................................................42

6.4. Data Sources ................................................................................................................................................44

7. Discussions and Recommendations .......................................................................................... 45

7.1. Breakout Groups Summaries.......................................................................................................................45

7.1.1. Hazardous Material Release Breakout Group Summary .........................................................................45

7.1.2. Critical Infrastructure Breakout Group Summary ...................................................................................46

7.1.3. Incident Management Breakout Group Summary ...................................................................................46

7.1.4. Healthcare System Breakout Group Summary ........................................................................................47

7.2. Best Practices...............................................................................................................................................47

7.3. Limitations, Cautions and Warnings............................................................................................................48

7.4. Research, Development, Standards, and Implementation Issues .................................................................50

8. Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 52

9. Selected Acronyms and Abbreviations..................................................................................... 53

10. References ................................................................................................................................. 56

Appendix A – Capabilities and Requirements Specifications ............................................................ 90

A.1 - HMR M&S Capabilities and Requirements ...................................................................................................90

A.1.1 - Intended Use................................................................................................................................................90

A.1.2 - Functionality................................................................................................................................................90

A.1.3 - Data .............................................................................................................................................................91

A.1.4 - User Interfaces.............................................................................................................................................92

A.1.5 - Performance.................................................................................................................................................92

A.1.6 – Credibility and Evaluation ..........................................................................................................................92

A.2 - Critical Infrastructure M&S Capabilities and Requirements..........................................................................93

A.2.1 - Intended Use................................................................................................................................................93

A.2.2 - Functionality................................................................................................................................................93

A.2.3 - Data .............................................................................................................................................................94

A.2.4 - User Interfaces.............................................................................................................................................95

A.2.5 - Performance.................................................................................................................................................96

A.2.6 - Credibility and Evaluation...........................................................................................................................96
vi

A.3 - Incident Management M&S Capabilities and Requirements..........................................................................96

A.3.1 - Intended Use................................................................................................................................................96

A.3.2 - Functionality................................................................................................................................................97

A.3.3 - Data .............................................................................................................................................................97

A.3.4 - User Interface ..............................................................................................................................................97

A.3.5 - Performance.................................................................................................................................................98

A.3.6 - Credibility and Evaluation...........................................................................................................................98

A.4 - Healthcare Systems M&S Capabilities and Requirements.............................................................................98

A.4.1 - Intended Use................................................................................................................................................98

A.4.2 - Functionality................................................................................................................................................99

A.4.3 - Data .............................................................................................................................................................99

A.4.4 - User Interfaces...........................................................................................................................................100

A.4.5 - Performance...............................................................................................................................................100

A.4.6 - Credibility and Evaluation.........................................................................................................................100

Appendix B – Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities.......................................................................... 102

B.1 – HMR Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities ..................................................................................................102

B.2 – CI Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities .......................................................................................................105

B.3 – IM Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities.......................................................................................................108

B.4 – HS Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities ......................................................................................................110

Appendix C – Simulation Models and Tools .................................................................................... 113

C.1 – Hazardous Material Release M&S Tools.....................................................................................................113

C.2 – Critical Infrastructure M&S Tools ...............................................................................................................119

C.3 – Incident Management M&S Tools...............................................................................................................129

C.4 – Healthcare Systems M&S Tools ..................................................................................................................134

Appendix D – Relevant Standards and Guidelines .......................................................................... 138

D.1 – Domain-Independent Standards and Guidelines..........................................................................................138

D.1.1 – Conceptual Modeling Standards and Guidelines ......................................................................................138

D.1.2 – Distributed Simulation Standards and Guidelines ....................................................................................139

D.1.3 – Geographic Information System Standards and Guidelines......................................................................140

D.1.4 – Communication Standards and Guidelines ...............................................................................................148

D.1.5 – Training System Standards and Guidelines ..............................................................................................149

D.1.6 – 3D Modeling Standards and Guidelines ...................................................................................................150

D.2 – Hazardous Material Release Standards and Guidelines...............................................................................151

D.3 – Critical Infrastructure Standards and Guidelines .........................................................................................162

D.4 – Incident Management Standards and Guidelines.........................................................................................175

D.5 – Healthcare Systems Standards and Guidelines ............................................................................................185

Appendix E – Data Sources............................................................................................................... 197

E.1 – Hazardous Material Release Data Sources...................................................................................................197

E.2 – Critical Infrastructure Data Sources .............................................................................................................205

E.3 – Incident Management Data Sources.............................................................................................................224

E.4 – Healthcare Systems Data Sources ................................................................................................................232

Appendix F – Breakout Group Notes ............................................................................................... 242

F.1 – Hazardous Material Release Breakout Group Notes ....................................................................................242

F.2 – Critical Infrastructure Breakout Group Notes ..............................................................................................247

F.3 – Incident Management Breakout Group Notes ..............................................................................................255

F.4 – Healthcare Systems Breakout Group Notes..................................................................................................258
vii

Credits 

Director of Standards

Bert Coursey – DHS 

M&S for Homeland Security Project Management

Charles Hutchings – DHS 

Y. Tina Lee – NIST 

Workshop Chair 

Sanjay Jain – GWU 

Workshop Program Committee 

Charles Hutchings – DHS 

Sanjay Jain – GWU 

Y. Tina Lee – NIST 

Swee Leong – NIST 

Charles McLean – NIST 

Workshop Logistics Coordination 

Swee Leong – NIST 

Patricia Faccone – NIST 

Proceedings & Compendium Editors/Authors

Charles McLean – NIST 

Y. Tina Lee – NIST 

Sanjay Jain – GWU 

Charles Hutchings – DHS 

Workshop Keynote Speakers 

Keith Holtermann – DHS 

William Grosshandler – NIST 

Charles Hutchings – DHS 

Hazardous Material Release Breakout Group 

Gayle Sugiyama – LLNL (Chair) 

Mark Miller – NOAA (Co-Chair) 

Sharon Kemmerer – NIST (Scribe) 

Sanjay Jain – GWU 

Steven Cereghino – DTRA Ops Support 

Joe Chang – HSI 

Joselito Ignacio – DHS 

Gopal Patnaik – NRL 

Julie Pullen – Stevens Institute of Technology 

Bill Samuels – SAIC 

Lau Yip Choy – Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore 

Sin Ling Ong – Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore 

Tan Peng Yen – Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore 

Critical Infrastructure Breakout Group 

Sanjay Jain – GWU (Chair) 

Charles Hutchings – DHS (Co-Chair) 

Munaf Aamir – Sandia Nat'l Lab 

John Barber – Bell Helicopter 

Douglas Bauer – DHS 

Kathryn Butler – NIST 

Leah Dankovchik – CSC 

Steven Fernandez – Oak Ridge National Laboratory 

William Grosshandler – NIST 

David Henry – Lockheed Martin 

Matthew Kaufman – US Army TRADOC, G2 

Sharon Kemmerer – NIST (Scribe) 

Mark Kerrigan – Dassault Systemes SIMULIA 

Corp. 

Wee Teik Khoo – Ministry of Home Affairs, 

Singapore 

Y. Tina Lee – NIST 

Anthony Lee – MYMIC LLC 

Deborah MacPherson – Cannon Design 

Michael Maglothin – RhinoCorps, LTD. Co. 

Carlos Callejon Martinez – CIMNE-USA 

Reid McKeown – Naval Surface Warfare Center 
ix

John Nestor – TSA 

Rosie Posadas – MITRE Corporation 

Elizabeth Puchek – CBP 

Robert Reese – NGB J8 

Fahim Sadek – NIST 

Hessam Sarjoughian – Arizona State University 

Robert Till – John Jay College 

Mark Turnquist – Cornell University 

William Waite – The AEgis Technologies Group, 

Inc. 

William Wallace – Bill Wallace & Associates 

Frank Wysocki – OptiMetrics, Inc

Incident Management Breakout Group

Doug Samuelson – InfoLogix, Inc. (Chair) 

Andrew Akers – DHS Operations - Battle Lab (CoChair) 

Mark Carlisle – NIST (Scribe) 

John Barber – Bell Helicopter 

Budhendra Bhaduri – Oak Ridge National 

Laboratory 

Curtis Blais – MOVES Institute 

Walter Cheek – BreakAway Ltd. 

Raymond Cole – DHS OPS 

Zachi Ekhous – 3i-MIND 

Dana Fronczak – OCFO/PA&E 

Stacey Harmon – FEMA/USFA 

Matthew Kaufman – US Army TRADOC, G2 

Thomas McCormick – Alpha Informatics, Limited 

Matt McGlynn – U.S. Coast Guard 

Paul Nielan – Sandia National Laboratories 

Juan Orama – National Guard Bureau 

Joshua Rohrback – Bruhn NewTech, Inc. 

Douglas Whatley – BreakAway Ltd. 

Bruce Williams – MASA Group, Inc. 

Frank Wysocki – OptiMetrics, Inc 

Healthcare Systems Breakout Group 

Susan O’Hara – OHC (Chair) 

Charles McLean - NIST (Co-Chair) 

Y. Tina Lee – NIST (Scribe) 

Brett Berlin – George Mason University 

Walter Cheek – Breakaway 

Bert Coursey – DHS

David Ferrin – Northern Lights Systems Navigation,

 Inc. 

Paul Gorman – Northern Lights Systems Navigation, 

Inc. 

Jeffrey Herrmann – University of Maryland 

Joyce Williams – Johns Hopkins University 

Bill Waite – Aegis Technologies 
1

1. Executive Summary 

The U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Engineering Laboratory (EL) jointly hosted a 

Homeland Security M&S workshop on June 14-15, 2011 at NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The intent 

of this workshop was to bring together a wide range of individuals from both government and the private 

sector to exchange information and benchmark knowledge on M&S and M&S-related issues for homeland 

security. More than 70 people attended the workshop that included experts on technical and operational 

issues from government, industry, and academia. Participants hailed from throughout the U.S., Singapore, 

and Europe. 

Dr. Bert Coursey, Director of Standards, DHS Science and Technology Directorate, and Dr. Vijay 

Srinivasan, Chief, NIST EL Manufacturing Systems Integration Division (MSID), gave welcoming 

addresses. The workshop had three keynote speeches including: 

• Dr. Keith Holtermann (Director of the DHS Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

National Exercise Division). “Modeling & Simulation – An Exercise Perspective” 

• Dr. William Grosshandler (Deputy Director for NIST/EL Building and Fire Research). “DisasterResilient Buildings, Infrastructure, and Communities” 

• Dr. Charles Hutchings (former Deputy Director, Modeling and Simulation, DHS Test & 

Evaluation and Standards Division). “Perspective on the Use of Models and Simulations in 

Problem Solving for Homeland Security”

The workshop program committee assembled a draft compendium of information on modeling and 

simulation for homeland security in the four technical domains. The compendium was provided to the 

participants as pre-read materials and served as a baseline for review, discussion, validation, and extension 

in breakout sessions. Four parallel working sessions provided opportunities to identify important M&S

technical issues and share information in the following homeland security domains: 

• Incident Management 

• Critical Infrastructure Systems 

• Hazardous Material Releases 

• Healthcare Systems

Sanjay Jain and Charles McLean presented the charge to workshop participants. The identified objectives 

of the workshop were to 1) amend compendium documents that captured M&S knowledge for the 

technical domain areas; 2) discuss content in each section in the draft documents - change/expand/ remove; 

3) add content beyond that in the draft documents; and 4) suggest additional sections and content. 

The discussion topics of the working sessions included: 

• Needs and requirements; 

• M&S resources that are currently available including project, facilities, and capabilities; tools; 

standards; and data sources; 

• Best practices for implementing models and simulations; 

• Limitations, cautions, and warnings pertaining to the use of simulation technology; and 

• Research, development, standards, and implementation issues. 

Findings and recommendations from the workshop are being made available to stakeholders and the 

general public in this joint DHS/NIST proceedings and compendium report.
2

The report contains summaries of keynote presentations, background materials prepared for the workshop, 

and conclusions resulting from discussions on issues faced by the homeland security M&S community. 

Participants were invited to join together to review and extend background materials provided prior to the 

workshop. Those materials were updated based on the input of subject matter experts and other 

representatives from government, research, and commercial organizations that have a stake in M&S for 

homeland security. 

Section 2 provides a summary of the keynote addresses. It also contains brief biographies of the speakers. 

The remainder of this document provides a compendium of homeland security M&S information as 

modified and expanded through discussions by workshop participants in breakout sessions. 

Section 3 introduces the four technical domains that were the focus of the workshop and breakout sessions, 

namely: 

• Hazardous Material Releases (HMR); 

• Critical Infrastructure (CI) Systems; 

• Incident Management (IM); and 

• Healthcare Systems (HS). 

Issues addressed within the breakout groups included the establishment of consensus on 

• Definition of customer and user needs; 

• System requirements specifications; 

• Recommended/approved modeling techniques and approaches; 

• Identification of data sources, reference data sets, formats, and standards; 

• Appropriate model evaluation and accreditation practices; and 

• Identification of current leading research, development, standards, and implementation issues. 

Such analysis by the workshop participants may be found to be relevant by future efforts for developing 

standards, conducting research and development, and enhancing implementation policies and procedures 

for homeland security applications of M&S to improve the protection of critical infrastructure systems. 

Section 4 provides general background and perspectives on methodologies, models, and simulations. An

initial set of high level user and customer needs for homeland security M&S applications are presented in 

Section 5. (Appendix A translates the high level needs to a representative set of M&S system capabilities 

and requirements.) The existing M&S resources and capabilities such as projects, tools, standards, and data 

sets that have been developed over the years to meet the needs are introduced in Section 6. (A detailed 

listing of the resources is contained in Appendices B-E to this document.) Section 7 presents a discussion 

of issues, concerns, and recommendations for advancing homeland M&S, in particular recommendations 

voiced by workshop participants. Section 8 concludes the document. Section 9 provides definitions for

selected acronyms and abbreviations used in this report. Section 10 provides a list of references used. 

It should be noted that for the purpose of this report, simulation refers to execution of computer models. It 

does not include role-playing or live exercises by human subjects, though it does include computer 

simulation models that may be used in support of live exercises (such as those discussed in Dr. 

Holtermann’s keynote address in Section 2). Overall, the report covers applications of M&S tools across 

planning, prevention, response, and recovery stages. 
3

2. Keynote Addresses 

2.1. Dr. Holtermann Keynote Address 

Keith Holtermann, DRPH, MBA, MPH, RN 

Director, National Exercise Division

National Preparedness Directorate 

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

Washington, DC 

Dr. Keith Holtermann serves as the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National 

Exercise Division. The National Exercise Division is responsible for providing exercise guidance and 

planning support to the Nation’s emergency preparedness community. 

Prior to joining FEMA as a career executive, Dr. Holtermann served as the Associate Dean for Health 

Sciences at The George Washington University (GWU), School of Medicine and Health Sciences where 

he held numerous key positions including: Principal investigator at the Response to Emergencies and 

Disasters Institute; Chief of 9-1-1 Research and Policy Analysis at the Ronald Reagan Institute for 

Emergency Medicine; and Director of the Emergency Health Services Program. While at GWU, Dr. 

Holtermann served on an interagency assignment with FEMA as the founding Director of the National 

Exercise and Simulation Center, a centralized facility located at FEMA headquarters in Washington, DC 

that coordinates the use of modeling, simulation, and exercise tools to enhance the realism and 

effectiveness of emergency preparedness exercises. He also served on a 4-year assignment with the 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness

and Response in a variety of executive leadership positions such as the Emergency Operations Branch 

Chief, the Training Exercises and Lessons Learned Lead, and Developer/Lead of the Office of 

International Response Policy. 

Dr. Holtermann has been in the emergency health services field for more than 35 years as a Registered 

Nurse, Paramedic, Director of Emergency Medical Services, Forensic Investigator, U.S. Embassy Health 

Officer, Strategic Arms and Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaties Inspector and Monitor, and faculty 

at multiple colleges and universities. He has performed emergency-related research and/or consulting in 

Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Taiwan, Tatarstan, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, 

Thailand, Columbia, Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico, and all of Central America. He is fluent in Spanish and

has written a text on EMS Development for the United Nations/World Health Organization/Pan American 

Health Organization. 
4

Keynote Summary:

“Modeling and Simulation: An Exercise Perspective”

Dr. Holtermann’s talk focused on the use of M&S for supporting homeland security exercises via the 

National Exercise Simulation Center (NESC). He introduced the National Exercise Program (NEP) and 

discussed its major components. He presented the history of the NESC and the challenges it has faced 

over the years to arrive at a new business model. The target market of the NESC was defined as including 

exercises, planning, and operations. The M&S applications in the National Level Exercise 2011 (NLE11)

were discussed to exemplify such use. The future trend of moving towards a geo-spatial concept of 

operations was identified as a key motivation for increasing the use of M&S. 

The NEP includes several components, including National-Level Exercises (NLEs) centered on the White 

House directed strategy; Principal-Level Exercises (PLEs) that are quarterly presidential cabinet level 

exercises; NEP multi-year schedules of NLEs and PLEs; and schedules of all federal, regional, and local 

exercises. The NESC mission is to enhance the Department’s all-hazards preparedness and response 

mission through the promotion of effective and efficient large-scale exercises and the application of 

modeling and simulation to these exercises. The mission indicates the key challenge to be addressed by 

the NESC is the change of culture of exercises to include M&S as a way of increasing efficiency and 

providing higher yield through the ability to explore alternative courses of action. The NESC utilizes 

existing M&S capabilities for decision support including human-based simulation (actors) and computerbased simulation to increase exercise realism and immersion in lifelike scenarios. It focuses on multiparticipant exercise simulations. It is advancing the use of M&S across the seven functional areas of

planning, design and development, conduct, evaluation, improvement planning, lessons learned, and 

promotion. NESC serves the exercise market by providing support for exercise design and development, 

exercise conduct, and exercise evaluation. It supports planners in strategizing and improving their plans 

through use of M&S. It is exploring ways to utilize M&S for real-time operational planning to predict the 

impact of an incident before true situational awareness can be obtained. 

The NESC strives to provide the exercise community with a common set of exercise support services. It 

aims to improve standardization and leverage best practices and lessons learned across exercise activities 

by employing a new business model of long-term procurements and agreements for functional-based 

services with multiple sources for increased flexibility and competition. 

M&S was used effectively for the NLE11 withthe scenario of a catastrophic earthquake in the New Madrid

and Wabash Valley seismic zones. NLE11 included 135 sites, 1,400 player/controller accounts via an 

Emergency Management System enterprise (EMSe) platform, 13,000 injects, and more than 4,000 people 

from over 43 federal agencies. The M&S tools used in NLE11 include the EMSe platform that provides a 

common operating picture for players and controllers: On-Line Interactive Virtual Environment (OLIVE) 

for avatar meetings and damage assessments; America’s Army Simulation Engine for visualization of 

scenario damage; Standard Unified Modeling Mapping Integration Toolkit (SUMMIT) for interaction with 

damage zones; and Virtual News Network (VNN) for mock media reports. SUMMIT provides capabilities 

for discovering templates and models for specific scenarios and allows their integrated execution. 

SUMMIT capabilities developed specifically for NLE11 include data generation for scenario, ground truth 

and Master Scenario Event List (MSEL), 3D data visualization based on building damage calculated using

Hazus data, visualization of 3D data on iPADs, and decision tree support for MSEL development. 

The NESC acquires simulation models for use in exercises based on needs of exercise planners and inputs 

on threats, impacts, and key decisions from subject matter experts. The National Planning Scenarios 
5

(NPSs) are used to identify the threats and impacts that need to be modeled and the associated Emergency 

Support Functions (ESFs). The analysis based on NPSs and ESFs has been used to identify the key gaps 

for model development. The more critical gaps requiring models include the following: 

• What is the impact/disruption on public safety (law enforcement, fire, EMS, etc.)? 

• What is the impact/disruption on public utilities (gas, water, electricity, telecom etc.)? 

• What is the extent of cyber disruption? 

• What is the extent and nature of the degradation/disruption to infrastructure for a cyber attack? 

Dr. Holtermann concluded with a brief discussion of the Federal Interagency Geospatial Concept of 

Operations (GeoCONOPS) that is intended to identify and align the geo-spatial resources that are required 

to support the National Response Framework, ESFs, and supporting federal mission partners. He 

anticipates that implementation of GeoCONOPS will provide increased opportunities for M&S for 

homeland security applications. 
6

2.2. Dr. Grosshandler Keynote Address 

Dr. William L. Grosshandler 

Deputy Director for Building and Fire Research 

Engineering Laboratory (EL) 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

Gaithersburg, Maryland 

Dr. William L. Grosshandler is the Deputy Director for Building and Fire Research of the Engineering 

Laboratory (EL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Grosshandler is 

responsible for internal operations of the Laboratory, which deals with construction and materials research, 

building environment research, and fire research. Dr. Grosshandler led the NIST investigation of The 

Station nightclub (Warwick, RI) fire and was the associate lead investigator of the National Building and 

Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster. 

Dr. Grosshandler received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, 

Berkeley. Prior to his appointment at NIST, he spent three years as the Director of the Thermal Systems 

Program of NSF. At the same time, he maintained his position as Professor of Mechanical and Materials

Engineering at Washington State University, where he had been since 1976. He has also held visiting 

appointments at Factory Mutual Research Corporation (now FM Global) and the University of Poitiers in 

France. 

Dr. Grosshandler has served on the Board of Directors of the Combustion Institute, the editorial advisory 

board of Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, advisory boards for the Fire Protection Engineering 

Departments at the University of Maryland and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the Research Advisory 

Committee of the Fire Protection Research Foundation, and is active in the Heat Transfer Division and a 

Fellow of ASME. He chairs the International Forum of Fire Research Directors (FORUM), serves on the 

Fire Council for Underwriters Laboratory, and is a member of the Science Advisory Committee of the 

National Association of State Fire Marshals. Dr. Grosshandler is a recipient of two Silver Medals for 

meritorious achievement and a Gold Medal for distinguished achievement in federal service from the U.S. 

Department of Commerce. 
7

 

Keynote Summary: 

 “Disaster-Resilient Buildings, Infrastructure and Communities”

Dr. Grosshandler discussed past and ongoing work on disaster-resilient buildings, infrastructure, and 

communities, one of the three strategic goals of the Engineering Laboratory at the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST). He briefly introduced NIST, the Engineering Laboratory, and then 

delved into describing the work towards this strategic goal including fire risk reduction in communities 

and buildings, earthquake risk reduction in buildings and infrastructure, and structural performance in 

multi-hazards. 

NIST is an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It has 2,800 federal employees and almost 

an equal number of associates and facilities’ users per year. The Engineering Laboratory is one of four 

major laboratories within NIST. It has the mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial 

competitiveness in areas of critical national priority by anticipating and meeting the measurement science 

and standards needs for technology-intensive manufacturing and construction in ways that enhance 

economic prosperity and improve the quality of life. In addition to the topic of the keynote address, the 

other two strategic goals are sustainable and energy-efficient manufacturing, materials, and infrastructure, 

and smart manufacturing, construction, and cyber-physical systems. 

The work on fire risk reduction in communities includes ensuring effective and safe use of emerging fire 

service technologies such as critical fire fighting and personal protective equipment while exploiting

science-based fire-fighting simulators and training.. The community focused effort also includes reducing 

risk of fire spread in wildland-urban interface (WUI) communities through the use of predictive WUI fire 

models from component to community scale and database of fuels in WUI communities. The work on fire 

risk reduction in buildings has reduction of residential fire losses and engineered fire protection within its 

scope. The engineered fire protection includes use of M&S in form of numerical models for fire and 

smoke spread in addition to laboratory work for model evaluation. 

The work on earthquake risk reduction in buildings and infrastructure is partly carried out under the 

National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) with NIST in lead agency role for Federal 

Government’s coordinated, long-term, nationwide program to reduce risks to life and property in the 

United States from earthquakes. The work also includes earthquake risk mitigation research on 

performance-based tools, guidelines, and standards for design of new buildings and retrofit of existing 

buildings to resist earthquake effects, improving building safety, and enhancing resilience of communities. 

 

The fourth area of structural performance under multi-hazards includes wind engineering and the National 

Windstorm Impact Reduction Program, prevention of disproportionate collapse, fire resistance design and 

rehabilitation of structures, and disaster and failure studies. All of these efforts utilize M&S, primarily 

physics-based models, for the study of structural performance. Examples of simulation models and 

physical test setups that were used to study the collapse of part of the Murrow building in Oklahoma City 

were shared. Examples of models and test setups for behavior of structures under heat generated by fires 

were also shared. A new National Fire Research Laboratory is being established that will provide the 

capability to test the performance of real-scale structures and enable validation of complex predictive 

models of structural fire performance. It will also support development of performance-based standards 

and codes for design of structures and foster innovation in design and construction of buildings. 

The lab has engaged in a number of disaster and failure studies over the years from the study of Hurricane 

Camille in 1969 and the San Fernando earthquake in 1971, to 2011 incidents including the earthquake in

New Zealand, tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri, and fires in Amarillo, Texas. A data repository has been 
8

established for use by NIST and outside researchers with data on all the disasters and failures studied. The 

study of the World Trade Center collapse was described in a bit more detail and attracted a lot of interest 

from the audience. The study involved a four-step reconstruction process with aircraft impact simulation, 

reconstruction of the fires, heating of the structural steel, and simulation of the structural response. The 

M&S tools employed in the study included LS-DYNA for aircraft impact damage, Fire Dynamics 

Simulator (FDS) for fire dynamics, and ANSYS for thermal analysis, structural response and failure 

analysis. The analysis was carried out at various levels of detail with the dimensional resolution ranging 

from 1-2 to 150 centimeters, and time resolution ranging from microseconds to 10-minute increments. 

Video clips from physics-based simulations of World Trade Center were shared. 

Dr. Grosshandler concluded his talk with an acknowledgement for sponsorship of U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate and the Federal Emergency Management 

Administration for part of the work reported.
9

 

2.3. Dr. Hutchings Keynote Address 

Dr. Charles W. Hutchings 

Senior Systems Engineer 

Program Accountability and Risk Management Division 

Management Directorate 

U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

Washington, DC

Dr. Charles W. Hutchings is a Senior Systems Engineer in the Program Accountability and Risk 

Management Division of the Management Directorate, U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

He is coordinating development of risk management methodology and tools – including models and 

simulations – to support systems development and program management in DHS. 

From November 2007 to February 2011, he was Deputy Director, Modeling and Simulation in S&T’s Test 

and Evaluation and Standards Division, where he provided modeling, simulation, and analysis support, 

guidance, and policy recommendations to promote the advancement and judicious use of M&S and 

computational science and engineering capabilities for homeland security. He is the author of four peerreviewed papers on the management and use of computer models and simulations for homeland security. 

From 2001 to 2007, Dr. Hutchings served on active duty and as a civil servant in the U.S. Navy. He was 

Senior Analyst in the Navy Test, Evaluation, and Technology Division where he provided expertise in 

M&S and led a program to develop an alternative approach to assess ship survivability using an innovative 

testing technology and computational models and simulations in lieu of large explosions in the ocean. In 

the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Dr. Hutchings provided test and evaluation guidance and 

oversight on multiple programs throughout their acquisition cycle by directly supporting program offices, 

conducting independent reviews of test programs at selected acquisition milestones, and presenting 

findings and recommendations to NAVSEA Acquisition Review Boards (ARB) and Program Reviews. 

Dr. Hutchings qualified as a U.S. Navy Engineering Duty Officer at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in 1998. 

Prior to government service, Dr. Hutchings completed post-doctoral work and was appointed Visiting 

Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and authored/co-authored

17 papers in condensed matter physics and surface science. He received a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry 

from the University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany in 1994, and received an M.S. in Physics and 

B.S. with majors in Mathematics and Physics from Syracuse University, Syracuse New York in 1990 and 

1987, respectively.
10

Keynote Summary: 

“Perspective on the Use of Models and Simulations in 

Problem Solving for Homeland Security” 

Complexity, uncertainty, and risk often characterize homeland security problems. Preparation for landfall 

of a major hurricane, for instance, is a good example. Both individuals and organizations need to address a 

variety of questions in preparing for and responding to this natural threat. These questions might include: 

• Where will the hurricane go? 

• When will it arrive? 

• What are anticipated impacts such as damaging winds, tidal surge, and expected rainfall? 

• What will be the consequences, and how can these be mitigated? 

• What’s the best course of action to recover after the hurricane has made landfall and its full 

impacts are known? 

Government officials face similar types of questions in addressing a terrorist threat or man-made disaster 

such as a chemical spill or failure of a critical infrastructure due to a cyber attack. For example: 

• What are the risks due to a given threat? 

• How can risks be mitigated? 

• Given a threat or hazard is realized, what is the best way to respond and recover? 

An important role for the U. S. Department of Homeland Security is coordination of an array of activities 

to prevent, protect, respond, and/or recover from both natural and man-made threats and hazards. Decision 

makers face a variety of problem situations in securing the Nation. These types of problem situations are 

multifaceted. They can be static or dynamic. They can be simple in nature or complex and “messy.” 

They can involve physical systems as well as multiple organizations and human beings. They can be 

routine or unprecedented as with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico or the Fukushima 

nuclear catastrophe. Decision making to resolve a problem situation can be done by individuals or groups 

using different types of decision models and can be structured or unstructured. 

A variety of information science tools, which integrate elements of strategic, knowledge, and operations 

management; organizational behavior; quantitative methods; and computer science disciplines, have 

evolved to support problem solving and decision making of all types. These include data processing 

capabilities, management information systems, decision support tools, and pervasive computing 

capabilities. Computer models and simulations should be included in this category. 

 

How can computer models and simulations help resolve a problem situation? Consider what happens 

when a problem situation manifests itself. A person or organization becomes aware of the problem 

situation that may be obvious or only indirectly apparent. If it is not apparent, the problem must be clearly 

identified and defined, and M&S capabilities can aid in problem identification and definition by modeling 

relevant environments, systems, and/or processes for study and analysis. For instance, the Modeling, 

Virtual Environments, and Simulation (MOVES) Institute at the Naval Postgraduate School uses virtual 

reality to help identify problems with and make improvements to military doctrine and training. 

Next, the responsible stakeholders must decide on the appropriate course of action to resolve the identified 

problem. Predictive modeling and simulation capabilities – those used to assess the future performance of 

a given process or system in a specified environment or scenario – can be used to evaluate the courses of 
11

action and make an informed decision. These types of capabilities might include engineering or scientific 

models to assess various physical threats or hazards to mitigate risks and potential damage. Computer

models that forecast hurricane tracks and provide information on the time and location of landfall are good 

examples. Predictive engineering models are the basis for the NIST post mortem analysis of the collapse 

of the World Trade Center towers presented by Dr. Grosshandler. 

Once the best course of action to address a problem situation is established, communication with all 

affected stakeholders is the next challenge in effectively implementing the solution. Simulations and M&S 

data are important here too. Hurricane track forecasts and the output of plume models for hazardous 

material releases are examples of M&S products, which help provide situational awareness to multiple 

stakeholders and coordinate an effective response. 

For homeland security analysis and problem solving, decision makers at all levels should take advantage of 

the full range of M&S tools and capabilities from all the sciences (behavioral, biological, management, 

physical, and social). These tools and capabilities can help analysts understand how communities at 

various levels (national, regional, state, and local) function normally and how these communities are 

stressed during a catastrophic event or disaster. With a “big picture” perspective and sound M&S 

capabilities, decision makers can make informed choices and respond quickly to contain damage and 

promote resiliency after any disaster.

One of the challenges for better using M&S capabilities for homeland security is that “model,” 

“simulation,” and “data” mean different things to different communities; and, it is important to recognize 

this when dealing with a wide range of models and modelers from different disciplines. For example, the 

physical science community views data objectively, which is typically acquired from sensors or 

instruments that provide readings that are observed independently. This community then develops models 

that capture the behavior of physical systems based on measured data, and evaluation of models, 

commonly known as ‘validation,’ is an assessment of how well the simulated or calculated values of a 

physical system correspond to measurements given uncertainty. 

For the social science communities, data is often more subjective, and researchers typically form 

consensus on what a set or sets of data represent. These communities use models to organize thinking and 

to study complex phenomena or systems. ‘Validation’ is usually a check of consistency, plausibility, and 

whether or not the results make sense given what is understood of the phenomena or system of interest.

The principle challenge for this workshop is to begin sorting through and documenting M&S capabilities

and M&S-related issues for better developing, evaluating, and using these important tools for homeland

security. 
12

3. Introduction to M&S for Homeland Security 

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) [DHS 2008a], developed by the U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security under the authority granted by the Homeland Security presidential Directive (HSPD)-

5, Management of Domestic Incidents, provides a template for the management of large homeland 

security-related incidents. NIMS provides a national template for federal, state, tribal, and local 

governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector to work together to prevent, 

protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, 

location, or complexity. 

The NIMS integrates best practices into a comprehensive framework for use nationwide by emergency 

management/response personnel. The incident management personnel should also utilize the National 

Response Framework (NRF) [DHS 2008b] that builds upon NIMS and describes additional specific 

federal roles and structures for incidents in which federal resources are involved. NIMS, together with 

NRF and other documents, provides the structure needed to coordinate, integrate, and synchronize 

activities derived from various relevant statutes, national strategies, and presidential directives to create a 

unified national approach to implementing the incident management mission (see Figure 1). 

Figure 1: National Framework for Homeland Security (from [DHS 2009a]) 
13

The subsections that follow describe four technical domains within the homeland security framework for

which modeling and simulation may play a significant role. 

3.1. Hazardous Material Releases 

Simulations of hazardous material releases attempt to model and evaluate the dispersion of various kinds 

of materials including chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological agents into the atmosphere, HVAC 

(heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems within buildings and other enclosed spaces, watershed 

systems, and the soil. Releases may be accidental (e.g., a ruptured tank car from a train derailment), 

intentional (e.g., a terrorist attack), or natural (e.g., a wildfire or volcanic eruption). Examples of release 

sources include nuclear power plant accidents, leaks or spills from tanks or industrial plants, use of

chemical and biological sprayers, fires, smokestack emissions, nuclear detonation clouds, and other 

explosive blasts. 

Hazardous materials are substances which if released or misused can cause death, serious injury, long 

lasting health effects, and damage to structure and other properties as well as to the environment [GBRA 

2010]. Hazardous materials may be in solid, liquid or gaseous form and may be explosive, flammable, 

combustible, corrosive, reactive, poisonous, biological, or radioactive. These material have to be properly 

contained in storage, use and transport, else their chemical, physical, and biological properties may pose a 

potential risk to life, health, the environment, and property. In a hazardous materials incident, solid, liquid, 

and/or gaseous contaminants may be released from fixed or mobile containers. Hazardous material 

incidents can range from an accident on a highway resulting in a chemical spill to contamination of 

groundwater by naturally occurring methane gas. 

There are numerous incidents of hazardous material releases (HMR) in the United States every year. The 

releases may be airborne, or spills and discharges that contaminate water bodies, vegetation, soil, and built 

up structures. The airborne hazards are also identified as hazardous fumes, noxious chemicals, or 

mysterious odors. The airborne hazards affect areas and people outdoors but they may permeate buildings 

and affect people indoors. The hazardous material releases lead to areas and buildings being evacuated in 

a majority of cases. However, depending on the hazard, release pattern, weather conditions, and a number 

of other factors, it may be advisable to stay indoors, i.e., shelter in place. 

The majority of the HMR incidents are results of accidental releases of toxic industrial or agricultural 

chemicals [AFCESA 2001]. Occasionally they may be releases of biological or radiological materials. 

The majority of releases happen during the course of regular operations at fixed facilities [KCOEM 2011] 

due to industrial accidents (e.g., fire or equipment malfunction at chemical plants). Other causes of

releases are transportation accidents (e.g., tanker collisions, train derailments, etc.), malicious acts (e.g., 

vandalism, terrorist attacks), and natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes). A recent example of 

HMR due to a natural disaster is the release of radioactive plumes from a nuclear power plant affected by 

the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011. 

The airborne HMR have drawn more attention due to their potential to negatively affect large areas. Some 

key parameters that are relevant to dispersion of atmospheric releases are the release location, release 

mechanism, agent chemical/material properties, weather conditions, and terrain and geography. M&S 

tools are important to analyze and predict the dispersion of such releases using inputs on these parameters 

based on reports, visual observations, and sensors. The tools take into account the material released, the 

local topography, and meteorological and atmospheric data to determine the dispersion area and associated 

concentrations [NRC 2003, page 9]. The concentrations are then used to assess the risk to the population, 

environment, and property in the affected areas. Incident management personnel use the results of these 

types of models and simulations to predict the impact of releases, allocate resources, and plan response 

operations, among other uses. 
14

HMR is one of the hazards included in the all-hazard context that NIMS addresses. NIMS identifies a 

specific resource category, hazardous material response, and for national resource typing to facilitate 

resource management for HMR incidents. It also calls for utilizing personnel with special skills for HMR 

incidents in the unified command. Similarly, it calls for the planning section to include a distinct technical 

unit to coordinate and manage large volumes of environmental samples or analytical data from multiple 

sources in the context of certain complex incidents, particularly those involving biological, chemical, or 

radiological hazards. Technical specialists assigned to the environmental unit may include a scientific 

support coordinator as well as technicians proficient in response technologies, weather forecast, resources 

at risk, sampling, cleanup assessment, and disposal. 

The NRF includes 15 emergency support functions (ESFs) to align categories of resources and provide 

strategic objectives for their use. The ESFs are called up as needed by FEMA to coordinate response 

support from across the Federal Government and non-governmental organizations. The ESF#10 is devoted 

to oil and hazardous material response and provides federal support in response to an actual or potential 

discharge and/or uncontrolled release of oil or hazardous materials when activated. The ESF describes the 

role of different federal agencies in responding to HMR incidents. It calls for use of the Interagency 

Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) as a single point for the coordination and 

dissemination of federal dispersion modeling and hazard prediction products that represent the federal

position during an actual or potential incident. The IMAAC’s goal is to draw upon the best available 

capabilities and information from all participating agencies. It is not intended to replace dispersion 

modeling capabilities that government agencies currently have in place to meet agency-specific 

requirements [DHS 2010f]. The NRF also calls for use of National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) capabilities when needed for operational weather data and forecasts tailored to 

support the response. 

The NRF also provides Incident Annexes that describe the concept of operations to address specific 

contingency or hazard situations. There are two annexes relevant to HMR, biological and 

nuclear/radiological incident annexes. The nuclear/radiological incident annex identifies the Department 

of Energy’s National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) as a key resource that may be 

activated [NARAC 2010a]. NARAC provides a computer-based emergency preparedness and response 

predictive modeling capability. NARAC utilizes M&S to provide real-time computer predictions of the 

atmospheric transport of material from radioactive releases and of the downwind effects on health and 

safety. The annex also calls for IMAAC to generate the single and interagency coordinated Federal 

prediction of atmospheric dispersions and their consequences [NARAC 2010b]. IMAAC and NARAC 

functions are currently served by a single unit based at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in

Livermore, California. In addition, Department of Commerce’s responsibilities in the annex include 

providing atmospheric transport and dispersion (plume) modeling assessment and forecasts to the 

coordinating agency when IMAAC is not activated, and maintaining and further developing the Hybrid 

Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) transport and dispersion model [NOAA 

2011a]. 

The Federal Government’s blueprint for responding to both oil spills and hazardous substance releases is 

described in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, more commonly 

called the National Contingency Plan or NCP [EPA 2011c]. The plan is included in the code of federal

regulations in volume 40, part 300. The plan establishes, in response to major discharges of oil or 

hazardous waste, the National Response Team and its roles and responsibilities, the Regional Response 

Teams and their roles and responsibilities, and the general responsibilities of Federal On-Scene 

Coordinators (FOSCs). It requires notification of any discharge or release to the National Response Center 

through a toll-free telephone number. The NCP includes a Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) as a 

special team to the FOSC. In addition to other science coordination activities, the SSC provides access to 
15

air and water modeling in support of oil and hazardous substance releases. NOAA provides the SSC for 

releases in the coastal zone and EPA for inland zone. The National Response Center (NRC) acts as the 

central clearinghouse for all pollution incident reporting. The regulations call for use of dispersion 

modeling for a specific situation, such as, toxic amount emitted from burning of identified materials in 

metal recovery furnaces, and determination of allowable emission rates of specific compounds. The 

owners and operators of sites subject to regulation have to certify use of dispersion modeling and identify 

the tools and version used. 

HMR dispersion modeling is also called for international level applications. The verification regime of the 

Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) utilizes atmospheric transport modeling 

(ATM) for identifying a possible release area or to predict the travel path of radionuclides based on a 

known emission location. Based on high-quality global meteorological data and using ATM, it is possible 

to trace the various three-dimensional travel paths of any selected radionuclide from any monitoring 

station where it was measured back to the area where it may have originated [CTBTO 2011]. 

Another international level application coordinated through National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Adminsitration (NOAA) is the determination of hazards to aviation due to volcanic ash. International 

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (VAACs) have been established for collecting the information needed for 

this task, analyzing the data, forecasting drift of the volcanic cloud, and preparing notices and advisory 

bulletins. These organizations utilize dispersion models, operational satellite data, seismic monitors, and 

volcanic observatories for their information [JCEST 2010]. 

3.2. Critical Infrastructure 

Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources (CIKR) models and simulations may be used to understand 

infrastructure systems, their interdependencies, their vulnerabilities, and the impact of the propagation of 

damage across interdependent infrastructure systems based upon emergency incidents. They may also be 

used to support training exercises, performance measurement, conceptual design, impact evaluation, 

response planning, analysis, acquisition, conceptualizing and evaluating new systems, vulnerability 

analysis, economic impact, and determining interdependencies between CIKR systems. 

The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) [DHS 2009a] provides the structure needed to 

coordinate, integrate, and synchronize activities derived from various relevant statutes, national strategies, 

and presidential directives to create a unified national approach to implementing the CIKR protection 

mission (see Figure 1). The relevant authorities include those that address the overarching homeland 

security and CIKR protection missions, as well as those that address a wide range of sector-specific CIKR 

protection-related functions, programs, and responsibilities. Homeland Security presidential Directive 7 

(HSPD-7) established U.S. policy for enhancing CIKR protection by creating a framework for NIPP 

partners to identify, prioritize, and protect the Nation’s CIKR from terrorist attacks. The directive 

identified 17 CIKR sectors and designated a federal Sector-Specific Agency (SSA) to lead CIKR 

protection efforts in each. The directive allows for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to identify 

gaps in existing CIKR sectors and establish new sectors to fill these gaps. Under this authority, the

Department established an 18th sector, the Critical Manufacturing Sector, in March 2008. 

Protecting and ensuring the continuity of CIKR are essential to the Nation’s security, public health and 

safety, economic vitality, and way of life. Critical Infrastructures are the assets, systems, and networks, 

whether physical or virtual, so vital to the Nation that their incapacitation or destruction would have a 

debilitating effect on security, national economic security, public health/safety, or any combination 

thereof. Key resources are publicly or privately controlled resources essential to the minimal operations of 

the economy and government [DHS 2009a]. 
16

The NIPP identifies CIKR sectors and responsible agencies. The sectors and responsible agencies are 

identified below: 

1. Agriculture and Food – This sector is defined as the supply chains for feed, animals, and animal 

products; crop production and the supply chains of seed; fertilizer; and other necessary related 

materials. It includes the post- harvesting components of the food supply chain, from processing, 

production, and packaging, through storage and distribution to retail sales, institutional food 

services, and restaurant or home consumption. (Responsible Agencies: Department of Agriculture, 

Department of Health and Human Services) 

2. Banking and Finance – This sector includes institutions that provide the following products and 

services: deposit, consumer credit, and payment systems; credit and liquidity products; investment 

products; and risk-transfer products, including insurance. (Responsible Agency: Department of the 

Treasury)

3. Chemical –This sector can be divided into five main segments, based on the end product produced: 

basic chemicals, specialty chemicals, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer 

products. (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland Security – Office of Infrastructure 

Protection)

4. Commercial Facilities – This sector consists of the following eight subsectors: public assembly 

(e.g., arenas, stadiums, aquariums, zoos, museums, convention centers); sports leagues (e.g., 

professional sports leagues and federations); resorts (e.g., casinos); lodging (e.g., hotels, motels, 

conference centers); outdoor events (e.g., theme and amusement parks, fairs, campgrounds, 

parades); entertainment and media (e.g., motion picture studios, broadcast media); real estate (e.g., 

office/apartment buildings, condominiums, mixed-use facilities, self-storage); and retail (e.g., 

retail centers and districts, shopping malls). (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland 

Security – Office of Infrastructure Protection)

5. Communications – This sector includes physical properties such as wire line, wireless 

infrastructure, satellite, cable, and broadcasting and also services such as the Internet, information

services, and cable television networks. (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland Security 

– Office of Cybersecurity and Communications)

6. Critical Manufacturing – This sector includes manufacturers that design, produce, and distribute 

products not covered by other sectors, including: primary metals (e.g., iron and steel mills and 

ferro-alloy manufacturing, alumina and aluminum production and processing, nonferrous metal, 

except aluminum, production and processing); machinery (e.g., engines, turbines, and power 

transmission equipment); electrical equipment, appliances, and components; transportation 

equipment (e.g., motor vehicles, aerospace product and parts, railroad rolling stock, and other 

transportation equipment). (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland Security – Office of 

Infrastructure Protection)

7. Dams – This sector comprises the assets, systems, networks, and functions related to dam projects, 

navigation locks, levees, hurricane barriers, mine tailings impoundments, or other similar water 

retention and/or control facilities. It provides a wide range of economic, environmental, and social 

benefits, including hydroelectric power, river navigation, water supply, wildlife habitat, waste 

management, flood control, and recreation. (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland 

Security – Office of Infrastructure Protection)

8. Defense Industrial Base – This sector is subdivided into segments, sub-segments, and commodities 

that produce or comprise weapon system platforms, components, and expendables. Major 

segments include missile, aircraft, troop support, space, combat vehicle, ammunition, weapons, 

information technology, shipbuilding, and electronics. Commodities include mechanical 

components and systems, structural elements, electrical, and electronics. (Responsible Agency: 

Department of Defense) 

9. Emergency Services – This sector is a system of response and recovery elements that forms the 

Nation’s first line of defense and prevention and reduction of consequences from any terrorist 
17

attack. It is a sector of trained and tested personnel, plans, redundant systems, agreements, and 

pacts that provide life safety and security services across the Nation via the first-responder 

community comprised of federal, state, local, tribal, and private partners. First-responder 

disciplines included within the sector are: emergency management, emergency medical services, 

fire, hazardous material, law enforcement, bomb squads, tactical operations/special weapons 

assault teams, and search and rescue. (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland Security – 

Office of Infrastructure Protection)

10. Energy – The energy infrastructure is divided into three interrelated segments: electricity, 

petroleum, and natural gas. More than 80 percent of the country’s energy infrastructure is owned 

by the private sector. The sector’s reliance on pipelines highlights the interdependency with, and 

the reliance on, the Energy Sector for power, which means that virtually all sectors have 

dependencies on this sector. (Responsible Agency: Department of Energy) 

11. Government Facilities – This sector includes a wide variety of buildings, owned or leased by 

federal, state, territorial, local, or tribal governments, located domestically and overseas. Many 

government facilities are open to the public for business activities, commercial transactions, or 

recreational activities. Others not open to the public contain highly sensitive information, 

materials, processes, and equipment. This includes general-use office buildings and special-use 

military installations, embassies, courthouses, national laboratories, and structures that may house 

critical equipment and systems, networks, and functions. (Responsible Agencies: Immigration and 

Customs Enforcement, Federal Protective Service) 

12. Healthcare and Public Health – This sector consists of state and local health departments, 

hospitals, health clinics, mental health facilities, nursing homes, blood-supply facilities, 

laboratories, mortuaries, and pharmaceutical stockpiles. (Responsible Agency: Department of 

Health and Human Services)

13. Information Technology (IT) – This sector is comprised of virtual and distributed functions 

necessary to provide IT products and services including hardware, software, IT systems, and 

services. (Responsible Agency: Department of Homeland Security – Office of Cybersecurity and 

Communications)

14. National Monuments and Icons – This sector is comprised of a diverse array of assets located 

throughout the United States and its Territories – many are listed on either the National Register of 

Historic Places or the List of National Historic Landmarks. They include monuments, physical 

structures, or objects that are: 1) recognized both nationally and internationally as representing the 

Nation’s heritage, traditions, and/or values or are recognized for their national, cultural, religious, 

historical, or political significance; and 2) serve the primary purpose of memorializing or 

representing significant aspects of our Nation’s heritage, traditions, or values and serve as points 

of interest for visitors and educational activities. These assets generally do not have a purpose or 

function that fits under the responsibility of another sector. (Responsible Agency: Department of 

the Interior)

15. Nuclear Reactors, Materials, and Waste – The sector includes: nuclear power plants; non-power 

nuclear reactors used for research, testing, and training; nuclear materials used in medical, 

industrial, and academic settings; nuclear fuel fabrication facilities; decommissioning reactors; and 

the transportation, storage, and disposal of nuclear material and waste. (Responsible Agency: 

Department of Energy) 

16. Postal and Shipping – The sector moves over 720 million messages, products, and financial 

transactions each day. Postal and shipping activity is differentiated from general cargo operations 

by its focus on small- and medium-size packages and by service from millions of senders to nearly 

150 million destinations. Sector-specific assets include: high-volume automated processing 

facilities; local delivery units; many and varied collection, acceptance, and retail operations; mail 

transport vehicles including vans, trucks, tractor-trailers and aircraft; and information and 

communications networks. Every sector of the economy depends on the service providers in this 
18

sector to deliver time-sensitive letters, packages, and other shipments. (Responsible Agency: 

Department of Homeland Security – Transportation Security Administration)

17. Transportation Systems – This sector comprises all modes of transportation (aviation, maritime, 

mass transit, highway, freight rail, and pipeline) – a vast, open, interdependent networked system 

that moves millions of passengers and millions of tons of goods each year. (Responsible Agencies: 

Department of Homeland Security – Transportation Security Administration, United States Coast 

Guard) 

18. Water – This sector includes drinking water and wastewater utilities, facilities, and systems. 

(Responsible Agency – Environmental Protection Agency)

To ensure an effective, efficient CIKR protection program over the long term, the NIPP relies on the 

development, safeguarding, and maintenance of data systems and simulations to enable continuously 

refined risk assessment within and across sectors and to ensure preparedness for domestic incident 

management. In particular, the complexity of interdependency calls for use of modeling and simulation

capabilities. DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP) is the lead coordinator for modeling and 

simulation capabilities regarding CIKR protection and resiliency [DHS 2009a]. In this capacity, DHS has 

several objectives including: 

• Specifying requirements for the development, maintenance, and application of research and operations 

related modeling capabilities for CIKR protection and resiliency; 

• Utilizing available relevant modeling and simulation capabilities in training and exercises to 

familiarize the Sector Specific Agencies (SSAs) and other CIKR partners with them; 

• Providing guidance on the vetting of modeling tools; and 

• Promoting use of applicable private sector modeling capabilities, including initiatives and expertise, by 

DHS, SSAs and their CIKR partners.

The principal capability within the IP to support modeling, simulation, and analysis efforts is the National 

Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC). NISAC has been tasked with developing 

advanced modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities for the Nation’s CIKR. These tools and analyses 

together address CIKR in all-hazards context including physical and cyber dependencies and 

interdependencies. These sophisticated models better inform decision makers, especially for cross-sector 

priorities. NISAC is the principal but not the sole source available to CIKR stakeholders in need of 

modeling, simulation and analysis capabilities. NISAC works with other providers of CIKR analysis to 

improve overall analytical quality and ensure consistency. 

Information regarding sector-specific CIKR-related authorities is addressed in the respective Sector 

Specific Plans (SSPs). The SSPs provide the means for implementing NIPP across all sectors. SSPs also 

provide a national framework for each sector that guides the development, implementation, and updating

of state and local homeland security strategies and CIKR protection programs [DHS 2009a]. As the 

responsible agent for the identification of assets and existing databases for their sectors, the SSAs’

objectives include: 

• Outlining the sector plans and processes for database, data system, and modeling and simulation 

development and updates in their respective SSPs; and 

• Facilitating the collection and protection of accurate information for database, data system, and 

modeling and simulation use in collaboration with sector partners. 

Fourteen of the SSPs are publicly available. The limited current capabilities identified in these SSPs 

suggest that there are large opportunities for use of M&S in each of the sectors. 
19

3.3. Incident Management 

Incident management models and simulations may be used to support analysis, planning, and training 

needs pertaining to terrorist attacks, national security events, and natural and man-made disasters. 

Simulation models may be used to understand incident management systems, interdependencies with other 

systems, their vulnerabilities, and the impact of emergency incidents on the population and responder 

community. Incident management models and simulations will be used to support training exercises, 

performance measurement, conceptual design, impact evaluation, response planning, analysis, acquisition, 

conceptualizing and evaluating new systems, vulnerability analysis, economic impact, and determining 

interdependencies between incident management and other infrastructure systems. 

The NIMS [DHS 2008a] and NRF [DHS 2008b] provide the relevant guidance for the incident 

management domain. Incidents and their management are defined in NIMS as below. 

“Incident: An occurrence, natural or manmade, that requires a response to protect life or property. 

Incidents can, for example, include major disasters, emergencies, terrorist attacks, terrorist threats, 

civil unrest, wild land and urban fires, floods, hazardous materials spills, nuclear accidents, aircraft 

accidents, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tropical storms, tsunamis, war-related disasters, 

public health and medical emergencies, and other occurrences requiring an emergency response.” 

“Incident Management: The broad spectrum of activities and organizations providing effective 

and efficient operations, coordination, and support applied at all levels of government, utilizing 

both governmental and non-governmental resources to plan for, respond to, and recover from an 

incident, regardless of cause, size, or complexity.”

From the definitions it is clear that incident management has a broad scope since it involves a wide range 

of activities, includes a large number of organizations, in response to an even wider range of emergency 

threats and occurrences. DHS has developed a set of documents to organize and manage the complexity of 

the broad scope. The two major documents are the NIMS and NRF mentioned above, each with a set of 

associated documents and components. Homeland Security presidential Directive-5 (HSPD-5) [DHS 

2003], called upon the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop a national incident management system. 

The NIMS provides a systematic approach to guide all involved organizations through the entire life-cycle 

of preventing, protecting against, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating the effects of incidents 

while the NRF focuses on preparing for and providing a unified national response to incidents. NIMS, 

together with NRF and other documents, provides the structure needed to coordinate, integrate, and 

synchronize activities derived from various relevant statutes, national strategies, and presidential directives 

to create a unified national approach to implementing the incident management mission (see Figure 1). 

NIMS has five major components: Preparedness, Communications & Information Management, Resource 

Management, Command & Management, and Ongoing Management & Maintenance. The Ongoing 

Management & Maintenance component specifically refers to M&S. The component has two subsections: 

National Integration Center (NIC) and Supporting Technologies. NIC’s role includes developing M&S 

capabilities for training and exercise programs and maintaining a repository of best-practices manuals, 

models, and recommendations.

A major sub-component of the Command &Management component of NIMS is the Incident Command 

System (ICS). The Incident Command System is “a standardized, on-scene, all-hazards incident 

management approach that: 

• Allows for the integration of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications 

operating within a common organizational structure.
20

• Enables a coordinated response among various jurisdictions and functional agencies, both public 

and private. 

• Establishes common processes for planning and managing resources.” [FEMA 2010] 

The ICS calls for use of technical specialists in planning and other parts of the recommended incident

command organizational structure. The technical specialists’ roles include providing information that may 

support tactical decisions on an incident. Numerical modelers are specifically identified as a category of 

technical specialists. M&S experts may thus be included as technical specialists in ICS to provide support 

for tactical decisions. 

The NRF defines the roles and responsibilities, response actions, and organizations, and emphasizes 

planning as a critical element of the response. It introduces national planning scenarios to be used as a 

critical element for preparedness. The 15 national planning scenarios [FEMA 2009] may be used to help

focus efforts to prepare for natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other serious incidents. The national 

planning scenarios are Improvised Nuclear Device; Aerosol Anthrax; Pandemic Influenza; Plague; Blister 

Agent; Toxic Industrial Chemicals; Nerve Agent; Chlorine Tank Explosion; Major Earthquake; Major 

Hurricane; Radiological Dispersal Device; Improvised Explosive Device; Food Contamination; Foreign 

Animal Disease; and Cyber Attack. 

• Improvised Nuclear Device scenario is based upon a 10-kiloton nuclear detonation in a large 

metropolitan area. 

• Aerosol Anthrax scenario is an aerosol attack spread by a truck in a city. 

• Pandemic Influenza scenario involves the outbreak of influenza for which there has not been an 

effective preplanned response. 

• Plague scenario is a pneumonic plague that strikes three areas of a major metropolitan city. 

• Blister Agent scenario involves a light aircraft spraying chemical blister agents into a packed college 

football stadium. 

• Toxic Industrial Chemicals scenario is an attack where a group of terrorists land helicopters at a 

petroleum refinery, start fires with rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices that 

result in a toxic chemical release. 

• Nerve Agent scenario involves the release of Sarin vapor into the ventilation systems of three 

commercial office buildings in a busy metropolitan area. 

• Chlorine Tank Explosion scenario involves an explosion at an industrial facility and the release of a 

large quantity of chlorine gas. 

• Major Earthquake scenario is a 7.2 magnitude quake that occurs along a fault zone in a major city. 

• Major Hurricane scenario is a Category 5 hurricane that hits a major metropolitan area. 

• Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) scenario involves separate Cesium Chloride bomb attacks on 

three regionally close, moderate-to-large cities. 

• Improvised Explosive Device (IED) scenario involves IED bombings inside a sports arena, at a parking 

facility near an entertainment complex, and suicide bomber attacks in an underground public 

transportation concourse. 

• Food Contamination scenario involves the distribution of anthrax-contaminated ground beef and 

orange juice to different states and cities. 

• Foreign Animal Disease scenario is a coordinated bio-terrorism attack that infects farm animals with 

foot and mouth disease at several large livestock operations. 

• Cyber Attack is a computer attack that is directed at several parts of the national financial infrastructure 

over the course of several weeks. 
21

M&S tools and applications should, wherever possible, support the fifteen national planning scenarios 

defined by DHS. It is likely that incident management systems will play a significant role in most of the 

national planning scenarios, with the possible exception of the cyber attack scenario. 

The NRF defines 15 emergency support functions (ESFs) that can be used to coordinate response in 

functions such as transportation, communications, fire fighting, mass care, housing, public health and

medical services, search and rescue, and energy. Some of the annexes specifically call for use of M&S. 

ESF#8 – Public Health and Emergency Services calls for use of Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric 

Assessment Center (IMAAC) to provide predictions using M&S of hazards associated with atmospheric 

releases for use in emergency response. ESF#10- Oil and Hazardous Material also calls for use of IMAAC 

for such predictions and for use of M&S for oil spill trajectory analysis and calculation of pipeline oil 

discharge volumes. The ESF#12- Energy recommends use of M&S for modeling impact of disruptions to 

the energy sector on economy, and on other critical infrastructure and key resources. ESF#13 – Public

Safety and Security calls for use of modeling and forecasting for crowd size, impact of weather, and other 

conditions to analyze potential factors that may affect resource allocations. It also notes the possibility of 

requesting National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) capabilities for geo-spatial modeling 

and decision support if needed. 

3.4. Healthcare Systems 

Healthcare System models and simulations may be used to support analysis, planning, and training needs

for the healthcare institutions, epidemics, and other healthcare-related emergencies. Simulation models 

may be used to understand healthcare systems, interdependencies with other systems, their vulnerabilities, 

and the impact of emergency incidents on the population and healthcare community. These models and 

simulations will also be used to support training exercises, performance measurement, conceptual design, 

impact evaluation, response planning, analysis, acquisition, conceptualizing and evaluating new systems, 

vulnerability analysis, economic impact, and determining interdependencies between healthcare and other 

infrastructure systems. 

The Healthcare and Public Health sector consists of state and local health departments, hospitals, health 

clinics, mental health facilities, nursing homes, blood-supply facilities, laboratories, mortuaries, and 

pharmaceutical stockpiles. The Responsible Agency for the sector, as designated in the relevant DHS 

documents, is the Department of Health and Human Services. Organizations that may be involved in 

addressing sector issues and as well the development of models and simulations include: Center for 

Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Homeland Security (border control for 

foreign viruses, agricultural pests, etc.), Social Security Administration, the U.S. Public Health Service, 

public health regulatory agencies such as the Joint Commission, state and local agencies, academic 

institutions, and research hospitals. 

DHS has developed specific plans for all the critical infrastructure and key resources sectors. The sector 

specific plan for Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) identifies HHS as the sector specific agency [DHS

2011]. HPH sector is responsible for 15 percent of the gross national product. About 85 % of the sector’s 

assets are privately owned and operated. The public health component of the sector is managed across all 

levels of government from local to national. The HPH sector’s vision has been stated as to achieve overall 

resiliency against all man-made and natural threats. HHS supported establishment of two councils, a 

Health Sector Coordinating Council for private sector component, and a Government Coordinating 

Council for the government sector. The councils have established collaborative workgroups on different 

topics such as, research and development needs and capability gaps for the sector, and measures and 

metrics for progress towards infrastructure protection goals. The HPH sector R&D goals include 

strengthening of surge capacity modeling tools [HHS 2007], a goal that would strongly rely on M&S 

techniques. 
22

The healthcare systems domain includes: modeling of incident victims and existing patients affected by 

incidents; medical symptoms, physiological processes, and behaviors that patients may experience as the 

result of a natural disaster, terrorist attack, or epidemic; disease management operations and procedures; 

the impact of disasters, etc. on the environment as well as the food supply (pollution, contamination, etc.). 

Issues that may be addressed by simulation applications include: analysis of policies, evaluation of options 

and predictions concerning the state of public health, spread of communicable diseases, policies for 

intervention, triage and priority scoring for surgeries or other treatments, vaccination programs, costeffectiveness analysis, medical emergency response, fatalities management, overall readiness of the 

healthcare system, hospitals and other related facilities/organizations, surge capacity, operational practices, 

logistic support systems, resource utilization, emergency department treatment delays and effect on 

community resources, alternate architectural options for changing the existing function of a space to a 

space capable of surge such as parking garages and temporary sites, and elements of the 

pharmaceutical/equipment manufacturing sectors serving healthcare system needs.

Healthcare system models may be comprised of: 

• representations of medical personnel and hospitals 

• constrained medical resources and work calendars 

• hospital facilities (e.g., operation theatres, intensive care units, beds) 

• medical equipment, single use devices, and consumables 

• administrative documents and processes, and medical procedures 

• routing, status, and location of ambulances as well as other Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) 

resources and processes 

• location, cost, status, quality, effectiveness, and dispensation of pharmaceuticals 

• logistics of industry practices and processes (e.g., climate controlled containers, other special needs) 

Models and simulations may be implemented as computer software, simulation-based training facilities 

(e.g., emergency and critical-care, medical/surgical patient care, maternity and pediatric rooms), and

specialty devices (e.g., mannequins for various applications such as trauma, surgery and emergency care, 

and disease diagnosis and treatment). 

DHS addresses healthcare systems in two contexts: a) as a function included in the response to 

emergencies in the context of incident management, and b) as a critical infrastructure sector that should be 

protected against efforts to affect its operation. 

The NIMS identifies that an incident may have a mix of implications including political, social, economic, 

environmental, public safety, public health, and financial, and hence require a coordinated response. For 

the healthcare systems perspective, the response includes collection of data on public health and 

environmental modeling using standard techniques. The public health information should be maintained 

securely given the sensitive nature of data. The information may be collected for investigations and 

analysis to determine the cause, projecting the spread, and selecting countermeasures for public health 

events and disease outbreaks. Typically M&S application will be used for projections based on the 

collected information and for evaluating response strategies. A public information officer should carefully 

manage release of information on public health. 

The NIMS defines the health and medical resource typing for resource management for incidents. The 

command staff may include a medical advisor for issues of medical and mental health services, mass 

casualty, acute care, vector control, epidemiology, or mass prophylaxis considerations, particularly in 

response to a bioterrorism incident. The command staff may also include public health specialists or 

radiation health specialists depending on the circumstances. Protocols should be developed for 
23

credentialing of volunteer management agencies such as the Red Cross, Medical Reserve Corps, and by 

organizations such as hospitals. NIMS calls for setting up area command for public health emergencies

since the impact may not be immediately identifiable, may be geographically dispersed and evolve over 

long periods of time. 

In addition to concerns for the incident victims, the healthcare systems need to be concerned with the

health of emergency responders. The NIMS defines the need for addressing occupational health and 

mental issues for emergency responders including monitoring of immediate and long term effects of the 

incidents. The command staff should include a safety officer and/or an occupational safety and health

specialist for monitoring and advising on the health and safety of incident personnel. The logistics section 

should include a medical unit for providing medical services to incident personnel. 

The NRF [DHS 2008b] acknowledges that the responsibility for public health and welfare lies with the 

governments of the states, territories and tribal areas, and that they can request federal assistance if they 

anticipate their resources will be exceeded. Several federal departments do have the authority to declare 

disasters or emergencies. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) can declare a public health 

emergency. In a coordinated response, the states, territories, and tribal governments should activate

special response teams with a public health specialist should the incident warrant such action. The 

response is followed by short-term recovery that includes providing essential public health and safety

services. Restoration of healthcare services would usually include coordinating with private sector 

owner/operators. The NRF emergency support annexes provide primary operation level mechanism to 

provide assistance in functional areas including public health and medical services. 

The NRF Emergency Support Function ESF#8-Public Health and Medical Services specifically describes 

the federal coordinated response in case of a public health disaster or potential for one. It identifies HHS 

as the primary coordinator. The response addresses medical needs and other functional needs of people in 

the need of medical care. The ESF briefly describes the concept of operations and the organization for the 

ESF#8 response. It defines initial actions, such as, assessment of public health/ medical needs, health 

surveillance, providing medical care personnel, equipment, and supplies, patient evacuation and care, and 

mass fatality management. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Interagency 

Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) may be called on for support in case of 

hazardous material releases being the cause of the emergency. ESF#6 - Mass Care, Emergency 

Assistance, Housing, and Human Services also calls for a large role for healthcare systems including 

emergency first aid and physical and mental health services for those in mass care. A number of other

ESFs call for support roles dealing with public health. 

The NRF also includes incident annexes that describe the specialized application of the response 

framework to specific situations. The incident annexes include those for biological, nuclear/ radiological, 

catastrophic, food and agriculture, and mass evacuation incidents. The focus of biological incident annex 

is to respond to human disease outbreaks of known and unknown origins with the HHS as the primary 

agency coordinating the response. The actions identified in the incident annex include HHS working with 

partner organizations to evaluate the incident. While the annex doesn’t specifically mention it, M&S can 

be used to predict the spread of the disease over time to help determine the areas and population at risk. 

All the other incident annexes include utilization of healthcare systems for caring for incident victims. 

Related to the incident management context, the Homeland Security presidential Directive-8 (HSPD-8) 

calls on DHS to develop mechanisms for improved delivery of federal preparedness assistance to state, 

tribal, and local governments [DHS 2008a]. Annex I to HSPD-8 provides guidance for the planning and 

development of an integrated planning system. Fifteen national planning scenarios have been developed

that may be used to help focus efforts to prepare for natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other serious 

incidents. With the exception of cyber attack scenario, the rest of the scenarios will require the 
24

participation of the healthcare sector for preparedness, response and recovery. Also, a few of the 

scenarios, such as pandemic influenza and plague, require responses primarily involving healthcare 

systems. M&S tools and applications should, wherever possible, support the modeling of healthcare 

systems in the fifteen national planning scenarios defined by DHS. 
25

4. Perspectives on Methodologies, Models, and Simulations 

Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 1996, defines Methodology as “a body of methods used in 

a particular activity.” Methodology is principles of method, and such principles can be used to study and 

inform problem solving and decision-making. [Checkland 2000] describes a useful model linking 

methodology and the user of a methodology to problem solving: 

 

“A problem-solving situation with three elements: 

• A user of methodology (this assumes that the user is familiar with the methodology) 

• Methodology as documented 

• Situation as perceived by the user 

Relationship and interactions between the three elements are encapsulated in the LUMAS model 

(Learning, User of methodology, Methodology formally described, Actual approach adopted, and 

real world problem Situation) shown in Figure 2. A simple example narrative for the diagram may 

be: A user, U, appreciating a methodology, M, as a coherent set of principles and perceiving a 

problem situation, S, asks, “what can I do?” The User then tailors from M a specific approach, A, 

judged to be appropriate for S, and uses it in an attempt to improve the situation. This generates 

learning, L, which may change the user, U or the methodology, M. 

A methodology is, then, a logical framework that not only brings forth learning for an individual, 

but does so in a consistent and systemic manner so learnings can be shared and passed on.” 

Another perspective on methodology comes from the International Council on Systems Engineering 

(INCOSE) where methodology is defined as “a collection of related processes, methods and tools” 

[INCOSE 2008]: 

“Methodology can be differentiated from other related concepts using the following definitions 

from [Martin 1996]: 

• A Process (P) is a logical sequence of tasks performed to achieve a particular objective. A 

process defines “WHAT” is to be done, without specifying “HOW” each task is performed. 

The structure of a process provides several levels of aggregation to allow analysis and 

definition to be done at various levels of detail to support different decision-making needs. 

• A Method (M) consists of techniques for performing a task, in other words, it defines the 

“HOW” of each task. (In this context, the words: “method,” “technique,” “practice,” and 

“procedure” are often used interchangeably.) At any level, process tasks are performed using 

methods. However, each method is also a process itself, with a sequence of tasks to be 

performed for that particular method. In other words, the “HOW” at one level of abstraction 

becomes the “WHAT” at the next lower level. 
26

Figure 2: The LUMAS Model [Checkland 2000] 

• A Tool (T) is an instrument that, when applied to a particular method, can enhance the 

efficiency of the task; provided it is applied properly and by somebody with proper skills and 

training. The purpose of a tool should be to facilitate the accomplishment of the “HOWs.” In a 

broader sense, a tool enhances the “WHAT” and the “HOW.” Most tools used to support 

systems engineering are computer- or software-based, and are also known as Computer Aided 

Engineering (CAE) tools.” 

“Closely associated with methodology is an Environment (E) that consists of the surroundings, the 

external objects, conditions, or factors that influence the actions of an object, individual person or

group [Martin 1996]. These conditions can be social, cultural, personal, physical, organizational, 

or functional. The purpose of a project environment should be to integrate and support the use of 

the tools and methods used on that project. An environment thus enables (or disables) the 

“WHAT” and the “HOW”.” 

The interrelationship of processes, methods, tools, and environments is graphically represented in Figure 3. 

“Model” and “simulation” can be defined or classified in many ways. For example, the DHS Lexicon 

[DHS 2010] includes the following definitions: 

• Model: approximation, representation, or idealization of selected aspects of the structure, behavior, 

operation, or other characteristics of a real-world process, concept, or system. 

• Simulation: model that behaves or operates like a given process, concept, or system when provided a 

set of controlled inputs. Simulation: model that behaves or operates like a given process, concept, or 

system when provided a set of controlled inputs. 
27

Figure 3: The Process, Methods, Tools, Environments Elements, and Effects of Technology and 

People [INCOSE 2008] 

In addition, Department of Defense glossary [DoD 2010] provides the following definition. 

• Modeling & Simulation: The discipline that comprises the development and/or use of models and 

simulations. M&S is highly dependent upon Information Technology as defined in DoD Directive 

4630.05, Interoperability and Supportability of Information Technology (IT) and National Security 

Systems (NSS), May 5, 2004. The use of models, including emulators, prototypes, simulators, and 

stimulators, either statically or over time, to develop data as a basis for making managerial or technical 

decisions. The terms “modeling” and “simulation” are often used interchangeably, but simulations 

generally execute models over time, space, events, or other processes. 

The focus of this document is on computer models and simulations – computer implemented physical, 

mathematical, process, phenomenological, or other types of models. One perspective on the way in which 

computer models and simulations support methodology is modeled in Figure 4 (M in the LUMAS Model). 

Models can broadly be divided into structural and behavior representations of systems, which could 

include mathematical or empirical modeling. Each of these types of models can be implemented using 

computer models for simulation and used to study questions of interest about a particular system. Various 

examples of model types are shown. This list of model types is not complete or exhaustive, but is meant to 

show typical applications of M&S that support methodologies such as operations research, systems 

engineering, experimentation, or other types of analysis. 

Although M&S capabilities are tools in many different methodologies, M&S using computers is itself a 

methodology with supporting processes, methods, and tools. Figure 5 illustrates a simplified, generic

process for development of computational M&S capabilities to address a non-trivial engineering or 

scientific problem from the perspective of an M&S developer. The process shown in Figure 5 also maps

to the LUMAS model as shown in Figure 2. This process is also applicable to simpler problems where 

trivial steps may be combined. Also, the M&S developer may be the problem solver and consumer of the 

M&S results such as an engineer addressing a systems design question or a program manager doing a 

“what if’ analysis to assess the risk to a program.
28

Figure 4: Modeling in Methodology 

The first step in the process includes the model or code developer (U) developing a clear understanding of 

what problem situation (S) the consumer of the M&S results is trying to address. A conceptual model of 

the system or problem serves as a framework in developing and implementing the appropriate computer 

modeling capability (A) using the M&S methodology (M) to address the question at hand. With a clear 

conceptual model in mind, developers have a number of choices to make in generating results: 

• What data, knowledge, theories, or models are available or applicable to address the problem at hand? 

• Is the data, knowledge, or understanding sufficient in both quality and quantity to address the problem 

at hand, or will additional data or observations be required to support development? 

• What is the risk of using erroneous results, e.g., will these results be the only input to a decision, or 

will other sources of information be available to support decision making? 

• How can the conceptual model be expressed mathematically or physically? 

• What boundary and initial condition should be used?

• What modeling paradigm or approach would be most appropriate to implement the analysis? 

• Given the developers’ experience, what particular codes or capabilities would be most suitable for 

implementing the model, considering software, hardware, and other constraints and limitations? 

• Given the code or computer capability has been developed, have any mistakes or errors been made in 

completing this or in entering the data? 

• Given there are no mistakes or errors found in developing the capability or entering the data, are the

results realistic, and do they make sense? 

• What approach should be used to ensure that the results are correct? 

• How do uncertainties and approximations affect the computational results? 

• Given that everything else is correct, are the results suitable to address the problem at hand? 

• How should the results and associated uncertainty be present for use in decision making? 
29

M&S capabilities include only selected aspects of a system and are implemented in a computing 

environment; therefore, they need to be critically evaluated to ensure that the results are credible for their 

specific intended use, and this is typically done using an evaluation process (L), which is included in the 

M&S methodology (M) and informs the model developer (U) of the quality of the M&S capability and 

results in addressing the problem at hand (S). 

Figure 5: Computer Modeling and Simulation – Developer’s Perspective 

One of the choices to be made by model developers concerns modeling paradigms. A number of 

paradigms can be used to create models that can represent selected aspects of a system. There are broadly 

speaking two paradigms based on modeling of time: discrete event and continuous. A hybrid paradigm 

combines the discrete event and continuous paradigms. Another paradigm, Monte Carlo simulation, uses 

random distributions to represent the outcomes of system without modeling the passage of time. Monte 

Carlo simulation concepts are used to model individual chance event outcomes within discrete event and

continuous simulations. 

Discrete event simulation representation uses events that make step changes in the status of the system 

over time. The simulated clock in discrete event paradigm does not have to successively increment the 

time and can jump from the time of one event to the time of next event since there is no change in the

system in between the events. Continuous simulations model changes in system parameters over 

continuous time. The simulated clock proceeds in continuous time steps and the relevant parameters 

updated at each time step. The continuous paradigm is generally used for modeling systems that include 

phenomenon that change continually. For example, the dispersion of a plume happens continually with 

time and will be difficult to represent with discrete events. The continuous phenomena are typically 

modeled using differential equations that model such factors as growth, decay, in-flows, and out-flows. 
30

There are a few other prevalent paradigms that can be grouped within the two major paradigms introduced 

above or their hybrid form. Agent-based models generally follow the discrete event paradigm though they 

may utilize the hybrid form too. Agent-based models utilize a decentralized representation of systems and 

allow the system behavior to be determined based on defined behaviors of a number of modeled agents. 

Their strength lies in modeling systems with large number of agents, such as, a crowd of people affected 

by an incident. The continuous paradigm includes physics-based models (also referred to as dynamic 

system models) and system dynamics. Physics-based models mimic the change in system state using laws 

of physics that are represented by differential equations. They generally model systems at a very detailed 

level such as movements and changes of state of objects, fluids and gases. System dynamics simulation

represents a system using causal relationships that determine system behavior over time using differential 

equations. It is basically a continuous representation of systems generally at a highly aggregate level. 

Evaluation of M&S capabilities and results should take into account the many factors that affect the quality 

of the results including the level of understanding or knowledge of the issues being addressed and the

experience level of model developers. Several organizations have developed processes and guidelines to 

address the credibility of M&S capabilities. For example, DoD has a process for documentation, 

evaluation, and certification of M&S results known as Verification, Validation, and Accreditation 

(VV&A) that is defined in a recommended practice guide [DoD 2006]. The DoD process is implemented 

in policy, which develops a common understanding of the major steps in the VV&A process defined as 

below [DoD 2009]: 

• Verification. The process of determining that a model implementation and its associated data 

accurately represents the developer’s conceptual description and specifications. 

• Validation. The process of determining the degree to which a model and its associated data are an 

accurate representation of the real world from the perspective of the intended uses of the model. 

• Accreditation. The official certification that a model, simulation, or federation of models and 

simulations and its associated data are acceptable for use for a specific purpose. 

All M&S capabilities should complete verification and validation (V&V). M&S capabilities used as the

primary input to critical decision making, e.g., on cost, schedule, or performance of the system, should be 

formally accredited to certify that the results are credible for their intended use. Analysts and decision 

makers need to be aware of these sorts of issues when presented with computational modeling and 

simulation results. 

 

[Balci 1998] developed a taxonomy and describes the use of different methods to evaluate M&S 

capabilities and results based on software testing approaches. Figure 6 identifies these verification, 

validation, and testing methods or techniques that can be used to support an evaluation process such as 

VV&A. 

In addition to the use of recommended practices for conceptual modeling and ensuring model credibility, 

model developers should employ recommended practices for a number of other aspects. [Jain 2011] 

recommends best practices for modeling, simulation, and analysis for homeland security applications for 

the following aspects: 

1. Conceptual modeling 

2. Innovative approaches 

3. Software engineering 

4. Model confidence/verification, validation, and accreditation (VV&A) 

5. Use of standards 

6. Interoperability 

7. Execution performance 
31

8. User friendliness and accessibility 

Figure 6: Taxonomy of Verification, Validation, and Testing Techniques [Balci 1998] 
32

5. Needs Analysis Overview 

This section contains brief summaries of the M&S needs for each of the four technical domains. Appendix 

A identifies some of the potential capabilities and requirements that are associated with the needs for each 

domain.

5.1. Hazardous Material Releases M&S Needs 

Emergency planners, first responders, and training personnel need simulations to support exercises, drills, 

emergencies, tests, alerts, real world incidents, and planning for national security events. When a 

hazardous atmospheric release occurs officials want to know – What is the hazard? Where is it going? 

Who is at risk? How do we respond? Simulation results may be used to help officials to: 

a) Provide real-time access and automated reach-back to plume modeling capabilities with the 

incorporation of real-time weather data. 

b) Establish situational awareness of current/forecast plume transport direction and hazard areas. 

c) Support contingency planning, damage assessment, development of response strategies, and 

consequence management as well as the development of protective action guides/recommendations to 

deal with the short and long term health and other adverse effects of a hazardous release. 

d) Estimate potential damages, casualties, illnesses, and fatalities. 

e) Estimate emergency assistance requirements. 

f) Project areas where buildings, land, agricultural crops, bodies of water, and other man-made or natural 

resources are or will be contaminated. 

g) Select locations for incident command sites, decontamination facilities, sheltering, and evacuation 

areas. 

h) Determine emergency response and health services facilities impacted by the release. 

i) Make shelter-in-place, evacuation, and personal protective equipment use decisions. 

j) Identify safe approach and evacuation routes. 

k) Guide field measurement and aerial sampling teams. 

l) Determine radiological monitoring requirements. 

m) Estimate the source amounts and locations of unknown releases. 

n) Obtain information for communications with the public to allay concerns. 

o) Support post-event analysis for exercises and actual incidents. 

Both forward and reverse simulations are needed. Forward simulations predict the spread of a cloud of

materials from a known release. Reverse simulations may be used to predict probable source locations and 

quantities of agent released based on sensor data. The source location, weather, quantity, and types of 

chemicals involved may affect the dispersion of materials. 

Inputs to simulation models may include the characteristics of the agent released, release mechanism used, 

the location of release point, terrain and structures around the release point, and weather conditions. Inputs 

may alternately be based on the sensor readings over time in the area of interest indicating the presence of 

an agent and the direction(s) of the spreading plume. 

Outputs may include time profile of the plume, affected areas and populations, and the exposure profile for 

the population in the region affected by the plume over time.

5.2. Critical Infrastructure M&S Needs 

Modeling and simulation should be used to support the needs of the various CIKR sectors, managers, 

analysts, service providers, and first responders within the homeland security community. Most 
33

importantly, it must support the planning and response needs of the NIPP partners including the 

Department of Homeland Security and other federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector 

organizations. The high-level needs identified below have been derived from the NIPP [DHS 2009a]. 

High level needs for CIKR modeling and simulation have been grouped into the following categories: 

- Model, simulation, tool, and database development, 

- M&S maintenance, updates, and security, 

- M&S partnering and coordination, and 

- M&S resource support and information dissemination. 

A list of high level user and customer needs for CIKR M&S follows: 

Development of models, simulations, tools, and databases – 

• Provide modeling, simulation, and analysis of the CIKR assets and systems to enhance 

preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation activities. 

• Develop, protect, and maintain data systems and simulations to enable continuously refined risk 

assessment within and across sectors and to ensure preparedness for domestic incident 

management. 

• Use models and simulations to comprehensively examine the potential consequences from terrorist 

attacks, natural disasters, and manmade accidents that affect CIKR and to analyze sector, crosssector, and regional dependencies and interdependencies, including the cyber domain. 

• Conduct pre-planned, short-term, and long-term analyses; as well as unplanned, priority analytical 

projects that are based on higher-level tasking or that are related to current threats to CIKR (e.g., 

hurricane CIKR impact analysis). 

• Conduct pre-incident studies (e.g., hurricane scenario studies) that are posted and available for 

downloading on the Homeland Security Information Network (HSIN). 

• Work with end-users to design operations-related tools that provide maximum utility and clarity 

for CIKR protection activities in both emergencies and routine operations. 

• Identify and integrate existing databases and other data services into CIKR databases and data 

systems, such as the Infrastructure Data Warehouse (IDW), to reduce the duplication of effort; 

ensure that available data are consistent, current, and accurate; and provide users with a 

consolidated picture across all CIKR sectors. 

• Facilitate the actual integration of supporting databases or the importation of data into CIKR 

protection databases and data systems using a common, standardized format, data scheme, and 

categorization system or taxonomy specified by DHS in coordination with the SSAs. 

• Provide guidance on the vetting of modeling tools to include the use of private sector operational, 

technical, and business expertise. 

• Provide mechanisms for accessing and inputting information into models, simulations, tools, and 

cross-sector interdependency analyses. 

• Develop long-term capabilities by maintaining expertise in the development, application of 

improved processes and analysis tools in support of longer-term DHS projects. 

• Predict damage to infrastructure primarily affected by an incident to help develop initial response 

until the situation awareness information becomes available. Utilize predicted damage information 

to develop initial recovery plans until detailed damage assessments are performed. 

• Predict cascading damage to other infrastructure. 

• Predict impact on human populace due to damage to the infrastructure (including evacuation 

models). 

• Analyze trade-offs between investments and risks to improve resiliency of critical infrastructure in 

disasters. 
34

• Provide predictions of critical infrastructure performance across the whole range from micro and 

macro scale, for example, models that predict cracks in individual buildings to models that address 

impact of a hurricane on all the infrastructure systems in a region. 

M&S maintenance, updates, and security – 

• Continuously update, maintain, and/or develop new tools and key databases to keep pace with the 

constantly evolving threat, technology, and business environments to produce reliable projections. 

• Protect sensitive information associated with M&S tools and databases. 

• Work with end-users to design appropriate information protection plans for sensitive information 

used and produced by CIKR protection modeling tools. 

• Outline in the sector plan processes for database, data system, and modeling and simulation 

development and updates. 

• Specify the timelines, milestones, and schedules for the initial population of CIKR databases, as 

well as regular maintenance and updates. 

• Define the schedule for integrating data and databases into such systems as the IDW. 

M&S partnering and coordination – 

• Partner with the private sector on M&S activities to add value to industry’s ability to assess risk 

and refine its own business continuity and security plans, as well as to contribute to the security 

and sustained economic vitality of the for CIKR protection and resiliency. 

• Develop and maintain simulation and modeling capabilities in coordination with partners that have 

relevant modeling capabilities to create appropriate mechanisms for the development, 

maintenance, and use of such for CIKR protection as directed by HSPD-7. 

• Review existing private sector modeling initiatives and opportunities for joint ventures to ensure 

that DHS, the Sector Specific Areas (SSAs), and their CIKR partners make the maximum use of 

applicable private sector modeling capabilities. 

• Work with sector partners, as appropriate, to facilitate the collection and protection of accurate 

information for database, data system, and modeling and simulation use and to enhance abilities to 

innovate and to provide products, services, and technologies to quickly focus on mission needs. 

• Establish robust relationships that are useful for sharing and protecting sensitive information 

regarding threats, vulnerabilities, countermeasures, and best practices. 

• Encourage industry and other partners to participate as early as possible in policy development, 

initiatives, risk analysis, and the management framework so as to help focus corporate and 

government planning, resource investment, and NIPP implementation. 

• Enable greater information sharing regarding specific threats and hazards enabled by the issuance 

of security clearances to private sector partners. 

• Encourage the leveraged application of preparedness guidelines and self-assessment tools within 

and across sectors so that risks can be managed more effectively and efficiently from the corporate 

level down to the individual facility level. 

• Coordinate and plan across multiple agencies for those assets and facilities that are considered to 

be at the greatest risk. 

• Participate in national-level and cross-sector training and exercise programs, as well as the 

National Incident Management System. 

• Establish informal networks among private sector partners and between the private sector and the 

various federal agencies that can be used for all-hazards planning and response. 

• Encourage industry to go beyond efforts already justified by corporate business needs to assist in 

broad-scale CIKR protection. 

• Coordinate with the DHS Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the SSAs on the 

specification of requirements for the development, maintenance, and application of research- and 

operations-related modeling capabilities. 
35

• Create an environment that encourages and supports incentives and recognition for companies to 

voluntarily adopt widely accepted security practices. 

• Work with industry to develop and clearly prioritize key missions and enable the protection and/or 

restoration of related CIKR. 

M&S resource support and information dissemination – 

• Provide the resources necessary to enable cross-sector interdependency studies, exercises, 

symposiums, training sessions, and computer modeling; and otherwise support business continuity 

planning. 

• Provide information on the availability of relevant modeling and simulation capabilities to SSAs, 

federal agencies and departments, and other CIKR partners that have CIKR responsibilities 

through outreach meetings, training, and exercises with sectors, analysts, and consumers.

• Articulate the benefits of CIKR M&S to government, private sector partners, e.g., corporate 

leaders, through the use of public platforms and private communications, both the business and 

national security benefits of investing in security measures that exceed their business case. 

• Promote understanding of CIKR assets, systems, networks, and facilities, and other capabilities 

through industry ownership and management of a vast majority of CIKR in most sectors. 

• Provide private sector owners and operators with timely, accurate, and useful analysis and 

information on threats to CIKR. 

• Enable time-sensitive information sharing, restoration, and recovery support to CIKR partners and 

priority CIKR facilities and services during emerging threat and incident management situations. 

• Target application of limited resources to the highest risk issues, to include federal grant funding 

where appropriate. 

• Provide support for M&S R&D initiatives that are needed to enhance future CIKR protection 

efforts. 

• Establish and conduct joint R&D and modeling, simulation, and analysis programs. 

• Provide operational support to DHS and other Federal Government entities on an as-needed basis 

in the form of analysis, simulation, and scenario development. 

• Reproduce selected products for widespread dissemination in hard copy, by email, or via 

electronic media. 

5.3. Incident Management M&S Needs 

Modeling and simulation should be used to support the needs of various managers, analysts, service 

providers, and first responders within the homeland security community. Most importantly, it must 

support the planning and response needs of the NIPP partners including the Department of Homeland 

Security and other federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector organizations. The high level 

needs, identified below, have been derived from the NIPP, the National Infrastructure Simulation and 

Analysis Center (NISAC) mission statement [NISAC 2010a], as well as a number of other DHS 

documents, and outside sources. A list of high level user/customer needs for incident management M&S 

follows: 

• Provide models of the normal operations of incident management systems, as well as the effects of 

epidemics, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks upon them to support analysis, planning, and 

response activities of homeland-security incident-management-system partners. 

• Establish incident management models, simulations, and data sets that support the national planning 

scenarios. 

• Support planning for facility defense and security, selection and placement of incident management 

monitoring devices and system sensors to update status information, damage assessment, coordinated 

shutdown, and accelerated recovery of incident management systems. 
36

• Provide M&S capabilities to help establish priorities and potential mitigation strategies for protecting 

and/or isolating the impact of events on the population and incident management systems. 

• Predict economic impacts of disasters and other relevant incident management events. 

• Provide decision makers the ability to assess policy, investment, and resource allocation options that

address incident management needs – near and long term. 

• Provide an integrating function that includes the identification and modeling of incident management 

system interdependencies. Supported interdependencies should include physical, geographic, cyber, 

and logical (see [Rinaldi 2004]); enable the integration of national, regional, local systems and data

sources; and bring together disparate users, information providers, and individual infrastructure sector 

leaders. 

• Move towards predictive capabilities that use science-based tools to understand the behavior and 

expected performance of inter-related infrastructures. Predictive capabilities should support various 

conditions, incident management systems, and event parameters such as time of day for events, level 

of demand for the incident management system, system weaknesses, capacity of facilities, 

mobilization resources, surge capacity, temporary support organizations, their systems, and functions.

• Define a standard classification of incident management problems. 

• Establish virtual capabilities that provide portals for Nation-wide remote access and communications 

to incident management-related modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities, and guidance for 

selection of appropriate capabilities for defined incident management problems. 

• Identify user data and interfaces needed for each incident management model and event type. 

• Provide standard formats for the import and export of data between the portal and external data 

sources. 

• Assist in planning for the backup and/or remote sitting of critical data sources outside of regions 

affected by events, e.g., hurricane disaster areas.

• Provide simulation and analysis capabilities to a wide range of users that will enhance the 

understanding of vulnerabilities, risks, and event consequences to incident management systems. 

• Provide education and training to public and private decision makers on how to cope effectively with 

crisis events. 

• Provide capabilities for coordinating incident management operations with other government agencies, 

and other organizations as well as conducting media interactions. 

• Provide M&S capabilities that provide timely information to decision makers for incident 

management. 

5.4. Healthcare Systems M&S Needs 

Modeling and simulation should be used to support the needs of various managers, analysts, service 

providers, and first responders within the homeland security community. Most importantly, it must 

support the planning and response needs of the NIPP partners including the Department of Homeland 

Security and other federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector organizations. The high level 

needs identified below have been derived from the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center 

(NISAC) mission statement, as well as a number of other DHS documents, and outside sources. An initial 

list of high level user/customer needs for healthcare M&S follows: 

• Provide simulation and analysis capabilities to a wide range of users that will enhance the 

understanding of vulnerabilities, risks, and event consequences to healthcare systems. 

• Provide M&S capabilities to help establish priorities and potential mitigation strategies for protecting 

and/or isolating the impact of events on the population and healthcare systems. 

• Provide models of the normal operations of healthcare systems, as well as the effects of epidemics, 

natural disasters, and terrorist attacks upon them to support analysis, planning, and response activities 

of homeland-security healthcare system partners. 
37

• Predict economic impacts of disasters and other relevant healthcare events. 

• Support planning for facility defense and security, selection and placement of healthcare monitoring 

devices and system sensors to update status information, damage assessment, coordinated shutdown, 

and accelerated recovery of healthcare systems. 

• Establish healthcare models, simulations, and data sets that support the national planning scenarios. 

• Provide decision makers the ability to assess policy, investment, and resource allocation options that

address healthcare systems needs – near and long term. 

• Provide an integrating function that includes the identification and modeling of healthcare system 

interdependencies; supported interdependencies should include physical, geographic, cyber, and 

logical [Rinaldi 2004]; enable the integration of national, regional, local systems and data sources; 

bring together disparate users, information providers, and individual infrastructure sector leaders. 

• Move towards predictive capabilities that use science-based tools to understand the behavior and 

expected performance of inter-related infrastructures. (Predictive capabilities should support various

conditions, healthcare systems, and event parameters such as time of day for events, level of demand 

for the healthcare system, system weaknesses, capacity of facilities, mobilization resources, surge 

capacity, temporary support organizations, their systems, and functions). 

• Provide education and training to public and private decision makers on how to cope effectively with 

crisis events. 

• Establish virtual capabilities that provide portals for Nation-wide remote access and communications 

to healthcare-related modeling, simulation, and analysis capabilities. 

• Identify data and interfaces needed for each healthcare model and event type. 

• Provide standard formats for the import and export of data between the portal and external data 

sources. 

• Develop situational awareness for healthcare systems at local, regional, and national level following a 

large-scale incident. 

• Help plan for the backup and/or remote sitting of critical data sources outside of regions affected by

events, e.g., hurricane disaster areas. 

Other possible application scenarios that may help to define M&S user needs and system requirements for 

healthcare systems include: 

• Resource planning, capacity analysis, and deployment, 

• Care prioritization and management, 

• Patient diagnosis, treatment, and other medical processing models, 

• Emergency medical response operations, 

• Layout of hospital facilities, departments, and processes, 

• Flow of health care documentation and information, 

• Mass preventative measures, 

• Public health strategies (e.g., quarantines, vaccinations), 

• Coordination with other government agencies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and other 

organizations, 

• Laboratory test procedures and identification of biological agents, 

• Decontamination and treatment for radiation exposure, and 

• Media interactions for healthcare-related preventative activities and emergency incidents. 
38

6. Identification of M&S Resources 

This section introduces existing M&S resources that support homeland security and are possibly relevant 

to meeting some of the needs and requirements presented in the previous sections. A detailed listing of the 

resources in each of these categories is contained in the appendices to this document. Topics addressed 

include:

• Projects, facilities, and capabilities (Appendix B), 

• Simulation models and tools (Appendix C), 

• Relevant standards and guidelines (Appendix D), and

• Data sources (Appendix E). 

6.1. Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities 

Modeling, simulation, and analysis have been recognized as important capabilities that can significantly 

contribute towards improving the security of the Nation [NRC 2002]. Over the years, the U.S. Department 

of Homeland Security and other agencies have been developing capabilities, establishing facilities and

sponsoring and executing projects that employ M&S for initiatives focused on improving security. The 

government agencies have also sponsored such projects and supported development of M&S capabilities at

the national laboratories, other government contract organizations, and universities. It is clearly important 

that knowledge of projects, facilities, and capabilities that significantly employ M&S be shared among all 

involved in or contemplating to be involved in such developments. Such knowledge sharing will help 

avoid duplication of efforts and facilities and may help create synergies among different efforts. This 

section provides an overview of the projects, facilities, and capabilities that employ M&S. Appendix B 

provides a number of such projects, facilities, and capabilities organized by the four domains addressed in 

this report. The lists and descriptions have been developed based on literature and on-line searches 

without any assessment on the quality of the organization. Inclusion in this report should not be construed 

as a recommendation. 

An example of a facility that actively employs M&S is the National Exercise Simulation Center (NESC) 

described by Dr. Holtermann, the key note speaker on the opening day of the workshop. NESC utilizes a

number of M&S tools for creating security incident scenarios in support of national-level exercises. With 

its broad mission of supporting national-level exercises across a wide range of scenarios, NESC utilizes 

M&S tools that are applicable in different domain areas. Many of the facilities that employ M&S in a 

significant manner are focused on specific domain areas. The National Infrastructure Simulation and 

Analysis Center (NISAC) is focused on the critical infrastructure domain area, though it should be noted 

that the domain includes eighteen identified infrastructures and an associated range of threats that together 

create a need for a large variety of M&S tools. Thus, NISAC has developed M&S tools specific to 

selected infrastructures and has a number of ongoing projects that are enhancing existing or developing 

new capabilities specific to individual, or in some cases multiple, infrastructures. While NISAC is a part 

of DHS, there are other facilities that are sponsored by multiple agencies. The National Atmospheric 

Release Advisory Center (NARAC) operates under a partnership of eight government agencies and uses 

M&S for analysis and predictions of atmospheric dispersions. A few of the agencies maintain their own

simulation labs such as the U.S. Fire Administration and U.S. Secret Service. 

Some of the facilities have evolved at universities, others at private corporations, and yet others with 

partnerships among universities and corporations. Some have been sponsored by DHS or other 

government agencies, while others formed consortiums for development of the associated field. The Texas 

Engineering Extension Service, a member of the Texas A&M University System, operates the Emergency 

Operations Training Center that utilizes M&S for creating a range of scenarios for training incident 
39

management personnel in managing large scale crisis. The Center for Integration of Medicine and 

Innovative Technology (CIMIT) in Boston is a non-profit consortium of teaching hospitals focused on 

improving patient care. This consortium is involved in several initiatives on various aspects of healthcare. 

One of CIMIT’s projects is focused on utilizing M&S for emergency health care and thus contributes to 

improving homeland security. 

Similar to facilities and associated capabilities, projects utilizing M&S for homeland security applications 

are being carried out at a wide range of organizations including: 

• Government organizations, such as: 

o DoD laboratories 

o NIST Engineering Laboratory 

o U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

• Government contractors and federally funded organizations, such as, national labs. 

• Academia 

o University institutes and research centers focused on M&S, such as: 

 Arizona Center for Integrative Modeling and Simulation (ACIMS), joint effort 

of Arizona State University (ASU) and University of Arizona 

 Institute for Simulation and Training at University of Central Florida (UCF) 

 Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation (MOVES) Institute at Naval 

Postgraduate School (NPS) 

 University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) Center for Modeling, Simulation 

and Analysis 

 Virginia Modeling And Simulation Center (VMASC) at Old Dominion 

University (ODU) 

o University labs, such as, Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory 

(JHU/APL) 

o Universities offering M&S graduate programs – ASU, ODU, UCF, NPS, etc. 

• Professional organizations in the area of simulation such as, Society for Computer Simulation, 

SimSummit, and Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) 

• International research centers – particularly in the European Union, Japan, Singapore, e.g., 

CIMNE (International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering), and Spain 

Most of the projects mentioned in this report are being carried out with DHS sponsorship. The information 

on projects provided here is admittedly of a transient nature and may get outdated soon after publication of 

this report. In fact, it is possible that some projects may have already been completed; but the 

corresponding source web sites were not updated. Nevertheless, the information provided in this report 

will provide the reader with an understanding of the type of projects and organizations involved. 

Hopefully, it will provide the motivation to identify other projects of interest before initiating new projects 

involving M&S for homeland security applications. 

The Complex Event Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Project focuses on interdependencies, cascading 

effects, and the dynamics of multi-event and multi-vector attacks. The Training, Exercise & Lessons 

Learned (TELL) project developed a federated, simulation-based training and exercise capability for large 

and complex events in a virtual/constructive/live environment. The Complex Incident Response Training

System (CIRTS)-Combat Medics (CM) project being executed by MYMIC LLC under a Small Business 

Innovation Research Phase II contract award is developing a simulation game-based training system for 

scene and patient management care following blast injuries sustained from explosives including 

Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Appendix B provides brief descriptions on the projects, facilities, 

and capabilities mentioned above and others. 
40

6.2. Simulation Models and Tools 

Simulation models and tools are the primary means for employing M&S for applications. Some computerbased models are used by simulation experts to study and analyze the issue at hand and advise the decision 

makers. Other models are encapsulated in tools focused on a specific intended use that reduces the 

requirement for simulation expertise on the part of the users. Still others are used for training purposes and 

utilize interactions with users. The models and tools enhance M&S capabilities and are employed at the 

facilities discussed in the previous section. Projects similar to those mentioned in the previous section 

often include the development of models and tools. 

It should be noted that for the purpose of this report, simulation refers to execution of computer models. It 

does not include role-playing or live exercises by human subjects, though it does include computer 

simulation models that may be used in support of live exercises. In homeland security exercises, many

times simulation is used for live exercises with no use of computer-based models. Similarly in the 

healthcare area, the term “simulation” is used to include a wide variety of modalities. The Center for 

Immersive and Simulation-based Learning (CISL) at Stanford School of Medicine [Stanford 2010] defines 

the following simulation modalities in the healthcare context: standardized patient actors, part-task 

physical trainers, virtual reality and visualization, desktop simulation and virtual worlds, and mannequinbased simulation. M&S, the focus of this report aligns primarily with the desktop simulation and virtual 

worlds and overlaps somewhat with the virtual reality and visualization modalities in the CISL list. 

The simulation models and tools for homeland security applications can be grouped in many ways. They 

can be classified based on their high-level objective into simulation and gaming. The simulation models 

can be grouped by the five major phenomena modeled: social behavior, physical phenomena, 

environment, organizations, and infrastructure systems. Gaming elements can be grouped by the five roles 

offered: civilian population and opposing forces, on scene responses, response management, support 

institutions, and live elements [Jain 2008]. While these grouping schemes address the interests of 

researchers and developers, they may not serve the needs of the target audience of this document. That 

audience primarily includes federal, state, local & tribal personnel responsible for homeland security. For 

example, personnel involved in incident management may need to look through all the five simulation 

groups since incidents may involve multiple phenomena. More specifically, a dirty bomb incident on a 

public site may require modeling of the crowd following the explosion (social behavior), prediction of the 

path of the plume generated by the bomb (physical phenomena and environment), actions of the 

emergency response personnel (organizations), and the impact on the operations of the public 

transportation systems such as metro railway (infrastructure system). Similarly, someone using gaming

tools for homeland-security-related training may utilize elements from multiple gaming groups. 

The needs of personnel with homeland security responsibilities are anticipated to be based on the domain 

in which they are involved. For example, for someone involved in incident response or management of the 

models and tools that cover various aspects of the incident will be of interest. At the same time, it is 

understood that some of the incidents may require more specialized analysis based on the associated 

domain. The atmospheric release of toxic material, for example, will require incident management 

capabilities plus specialized expertise in hazardous material release to predict the dispersion of the released 

agent. The simulation models and tools in this publication, hence, are organized by domains. In 

particular, the models and tools captured in Appendix C have been organized by the four major domains 

that were addressed in this workshop: critical infrastructure systems, incident management, hazardous

material release, and healthcare systems. A few of the models and tools are considered to be useful for 

multiple domains and are repeated in the list with the anticipation that readers interested in one domain 

may only go through the corresponding part of Appendix C. The simulation models and tools are listed in 

alphabetical order for each domain. Sub-classification, using for example the criteria discussed previously, 

is not used for further grouping of the tools within each domain. For example, simulation and gaming 
41

tools are not separated out since only a few gaming tools were found. These include DI-Guy in incident 

management domain and GameTT in healthcare systems domain. 

A number of models and tools are available from various sources including commercial, government, nonprofit, and academic organizations. For example, for critical infrastructure (CI) systems the list includes 

those developed by Department of Energy’s National Laboratories (e.g., NISAC Agent-Based Laboratory 

for Economics, N-ABLE), those developed by commercial vendors (e.g., IntePoint Vu), and those 

developed at universities (e.g., MIT Screening Methodology, MSM). While offerings primarily from 

domestic organizations are included, occasionally tools developed by overseas organizations are also 

included. For example, the list of CI models and tools includes Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) 

Modeling and Analysis (CIPMA) developed under sponsorship of government of Australia, Critical 

Infrastructure Simulation by Interdependent Agents (CISIA) developed by a consortium of Italian 

universities, AIMSUN, a traffic modeling tool from a vendor in Spain, and Infrastructure 

Interdependencies Simulation (I2SIM) being developed at the University of British Columbia in Canada. 

There are several cases of tools with similar, and in a few cases the same, acronyms. For example, the list 

of tools for CI systems includes Crisis Information Management Software (CIMS) and CIMSuite (CIMS). 

The list of tools for Healthcare systems includes EDS, Edsim, EDSIM, and ED Simulation, all of which 

are different tools. This suggests that readers and potential users of M&S should consider the full 

information about the particular tool when comparing multiple options. 

The simulation models and tools included in Appendix C are again based on literature and on-line 

searches; as such, their inclusion in this report should not be construed as a recommendation. While the 

list is current at the time of publication, it is recommended that potential users conduct an on-line search to 

explore any new tools that may have become available. Potential users should also look for lists created 

through other surveys and reports that appear with appreciable frequency. For example, a report from a 

NIST workshop on M&S for emergency response [Jain 2003] includes brief description of 63 tools for the

purpose; a survey performed by Idaho National Laboratory [Pederson 2006] under the sponsorship of the

U.S. Technical Support Working Group identified 30 tools for critical infrastructure interdependency 

modeling. 

The information in Appendix C is intended to provide an example of the kinds of simulation models and 

tools available for purposes identified by the developing organization and relevant for homeland security 

applications in the corresponding domain. Potential users can determine the number of available tools that 

address the general area of interest and use the list as the initial group to explore further. The list of 

models and tools with their identified purposes may also help new users understand the possible uses of 

M&S. If the list does not include any relevant tools, a new tool may be needed. For example, the list 

includes a number of tools to model CI systems at high levels – mainly to study interdependencies. Few 

focus on modeling CI systems in detail. Potential users with the need to do so may have to sponsor 

development of such tools. 

The necessary capabilities of simulation models and tools should be guided by requirements. Before 

making a selection, users and their advisors should create a detailed list of requirements based on the 

identified need. These may be based on those specified in Appendix A. Candidate models and tools can

then be identified using the lists provided in Appendix C. The set of critical requirements should be used 

for initial screening of that list. The models and tools remaining on the list after the initial screening 

should be evaluated in detail against the complete set of requirements. 

The evaluation should consider the expected difficulty involved in using the model or tool for the intended 

purpose. This type of assessment can be based on discussion with the vendor or the organization that 
42

developed the model or tool (such as an academic or research organization). Use of a majority or all the 

recommended practices discussed in [Jain 2011] can help with such an assessment. 

The solution with the best evaluation and assessment can then be selected for use. Additional custom 

development may be needed if the requirements that are not met are deemed to be essential for the 

intended purpose. 

Please refer to Appendix C for list of tools with associated brief descriptions of simulation models and 

tools for each of the four domains addressed during the workshop. 

6.3. Relevant Standards and Guidelines 

Many modeling, simulation, and analysis (MSA) software applications have been developed or are 

currently under development. However, there is little likelihood that these applications will be capable of 

being integrated or readily adapted to support different local needs of incident management organizations 

across the Nation. MSA tools, like many other software applications, are costly to develop and may be

impossible to integrate if they are independently created by different organizations. Consensus standards 

could help reduce the costs associated with simulation model construction and interoperability between

simulation and other software applications. Standards can enable and encourage software and data re-use. 

Standards can also enable the integration of independently developed modules to rapidly model a specific 

scenario. Thus standards are critical to facilitate the design, development, and implementation of 

simulations and models and to help the homeland security community make more effective and efficient 

use of MSA applications. Standards may result from consensus standardization processes within standards 

development organizations (SDOs), DHS mandates, or interfaces that are defined by commercial 

developers that are accepted as de facto standards.

Standardization of integration architectures, specifications of module scope and functionality, data 

interfaces and protocols, application programmer interfaces, VV&A procedures and other test methods, 

data sets, and other interoperability mechanisms would help maximize the potential of MSA applications. 

Appendix D lists the available standards and guidelines relevant to the four domains addressed in this

report. The standards and guidelines listed in the appendix include those that have been approved by the 

standard organizations, those that are undergoing the approval process, and de facto standards that have 

been adopted widely by users but have not been formally approved. The list and descriptions have been

developed based on literature and on-line searches. Some standard/guideline items in Appendix D might

appear in more than one domain; this is due to its extended scope which covers aspects of multiple 

domains. To make searching for relevant topics easier for readers, Appendix D is presented as follows. 

D.1 – Domain-Independent Standards and Guidelines 

 D.1.1 – Conceptual Modeling Standards and Guidelines 

 D.1.2 – Distributed Simulation Standards and Guidelines

 D.1.3 – Geographic Information System Standards and Guidelines 

 D.1.4 – Communication Standards and Guidelines

 D.1.5 – Training System Standards and Guidelines 

 D.1.6 – 3D Modeling Standards and Guidelines 

D.2 – Hazardous Material Release Standards and Guidelines

D.3 – Critical Infrastructure Standards and Guidelines

D.4 – Incident Management Standards and Guidelines

D.5 – Healthcare Systems Standards and Guidelines 

The title, description, standard type, responsible organization, and classification are noted with each 

associated standard/guideline presented in Appendix D. The title identifies the name of the standard or 
43

guideline. The description provides a brief introduction of the standard/guideline. The standard type is 

the identification of the standard or guideline assigned by the responsible organization. The organization 

identifies the responsible organization of the standard or guideline. There are a number of organizations 

whose standards missions relate directly or indirectly to the four domains addressed in this report. 

Examples of these organizations are 

• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 

• Department of Defense (DoD) 

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

• Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) 

• Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) 

• Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 

• International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) 

• International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 

• National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

• Object Management Group (OMG) 

• Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) 

• Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) 

• Synthetic Environment Data Representation and Interchange Specification (SEDRIS) 

• The Agency of Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) 

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

• The Joint Commission Resources (JCR) 

• The Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) 

• Web 3D Consortium (WEB3D) 

• World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 

• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 

The classification of standards/guidelines is based on the categorization scheme identified by McLean, 

Jain, and Lee [McLean 2008]. The categories include Architectures, General Purpose Integration 

Interfaces, Domain-specific Integration Interfaces, Equipment Specifications, Operational Guidelines, and 

Document Formats. 

• Architectures support the overall design or structure of a system or system environment. Interface 

standards facilitate interoperation or data exchange between structural components. 

• General Purpose Integration Interfaces are used to integrate a wide variety of computer 

applications and are not specific to homeland security or related mission areas. Example interfaces 

include markup languages, image file formats, and database query languages. 

• Domain-specific Integration Interfaces are specific to homeland-security-related areas; e.g., 

emergency communications message formats. 

• Equipment Specifications define required capabilities, functional characteristics, or rules that 

ensure quality, safety, and health of users. 

• Operational Guidelines define organizational structures, policies, procedures, and protocols. 

• Document Formats specify layout and structure for documents in word processing, database, 

spreadsheet, graphic, presentation, printed, and encoded formats. 
44

6.4. Data Sources 

MSA applications need to access many different types of homeland-security-related information that 

originates from various sources. The distribution of timely and accurate information is a key to enhancing 

the ability to manage homeland security planning, incident management, routine security operations, and 

emergency response. Example data sources are Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA), 

which is maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); Global Terrorism 

Database (GTD), which is maintained by the DHS and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism 

and Responses to Terrorism (START); and the Emergency Response Safety and Health Database, which is 

maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of 

Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH). 

Much of the information used to develop or run homeland security models and simulations are publicly 

available, but scattered. Appendix E presents a number of such data sources organized by the four 

domains addressed in this report. The list and descriptions have been developed based on literature and 

on-line searches without any assessment of the accuracy or reliability of the information. The title, 

description, data source, responsible organization, format, and classification are noted with each of the 

associated standard/guideline item of Appendix E. The title identifies the name of the data source. The 

description provides a brief introduction of data content included in the data source. The data source is 

the identification and version of the data source assigned by the responsible organization or data provider. 

The responsible organization may be groups or companies, or even the entire emergency response 

community including federal, state, local, and tribal governments, and the private sector. The format

identifies the data format. The data may be stored as plain text files, structured interchange formats, or 

remote databases. The format of this data may be based on standards or proprietary formats of information 

providers. The classification identifies the data type, which is based on the categorization scheme 

identified by McLean, Jain, and Lee [McLean 2008]. The major categories of data sets include Incidents, 

Environment, Resources, Controlling Documents, Geography and Layout, Demographic and Behavioral, 

Investigative Intelligence, Training, Systems Engineering, and Simulation Support.

• Incidents data include incident summaries, chronologies, response operations, models, message 

logs, media files, reports and other records, and after action reviews. 

• Environmental data include climate, weather, societal, political, economic, biosphere, and 

chemical properties/hazard effects data. 

• Resources data include organizations, funds, facilities, personnel, systems, vehicles, other 

equipment, communications channels, document media, and consumable supplies. 

• Controlling Documents data include policies, plans, protocols, and procedures. 

• Geography and Layout data includes definitions of geographical regions and other areas, maps, 

layouts, and models. 

• Demographic and Behavioral data include demographic and behavioral data. 

• Investigative Intelligence include various databases that are mined to gather intelligence for 

combating terrorism including locations, facilities, organizations, individuals, components, 

documents, money, weapons, vehicles, and drugs. 

• Training data include course syllabi, lesson plans, instructional materials, tests, exercises, and 

references. 

• System Engineering data include requirements analyses, design specifications, system 

documentation, test plans and procedures, and test data sets. 

• Simulation Support data include software assets, statistical distributions, and programming scripts.
45

7. Discussions and Recommendations 

This section is intended to capture practices and issues relevant to program sponsors, project managers, 

researchers, developers, and implementers of M&S for homeland security applications. The resources 

introduced in Section 6 (and detailed in the appendices) and research, development and implementation 

experiences are used to identify the best practices to be followed for future efforts and to provide 

uncertainties, cautions and warnings for use of such applications. Further, the resources in Section 6 are 

compared with the information in Section 5 and Appendix A to identify the unmet needs and requirements. 

These unmet needs and requirements are used to identify and prioritize the research, development, 

standards, and implementation issues that should be addressed going forward. Hence, this section provides 

a summary of discussion topics and recommendations that are divided into four major areas: 

• Summaries of workshop breakout group discussions and recommendations, 

• Identification of best practices, 

• Uncertainties, cautions, and warnings regarding expectations of these models and simulations, and 

• Research, development, standards, and implementation issues that may need to be addressed by the 

research community, program sponsors, and stakeholders to improve the quality and utility of models 

and simulations. 

7.1. Breakout Groups Summaries 

The subsections that follow contain brief summaries of the discussions in each of the four parallel breakout 

groups. The editors carefully considered all the input from the workshop breakout groups and modified

this document and its appendices as appropriate. Notes from the breakout groups for each domain are 

captured in Appendix F. The readers are encouraged to peruse the notes for domain-specific inputs as 

some of the information is not included in other sections or appendices of the report.

7.1.1. Hazardous Material Release Breakout Group Summary 

The HMR breakout group identified two key needs for the HMR area. First, there is a need for coupling of 

M&S and decision support tools to allow M&S results to be communicated to decision makers through 

systems that they use for managing HMR incidents. Such systems may include GIS-based solutions and 

response asset planning models. Second, a need for standards for products and VV&A was highlighted. 

HMR M&S products should utilize standard presentation of customer products including use of same 

contour levels and colors for chemical effects and use of federal protective action guideline levels for 

radiological impacts. While it was recognized that there are multiple challenges to defining standard

VV&A approaches for HMR applications, a need for such standards was identified. 

The group also identified two key issues both related to communication of M&S outputs. First, it is 

critical to ensure that results of M&S products are correctly communicated to the users and hence the 

outputs should include information to support the right interpretation. The issue extends to communication 

to the public based on M&S results. The second issue emanates from the difficulty to understand and 

communicate uncertainty in M&S results. Standard approaches incorporating rigorous statistical methods 

are needed to incorporate all sources of uncertainty. Communicating uncertainty to the users continues to 

be a major challenge. 

Overall, the group concluded that the workshop contributed to the progress towards meeting the need for 

general guidance to developer and user communities on M&S tools. Such guidance will be addressed as a 

part of an-ongoing long-term discussion in the communities. The group identified communicating the 
46

complex information provided by, and the limitations of, M&S tools to the complete range of users as a

developing new challenge. 

7.1.2. Critical Infrastructure Breakout Group Summary 

The CI breakout group had a larger challenge than other breakout groups given the wide scope of the 

domain that is comprised of 18 identified critical infrastructure sectors and key resources. Somewhat

predictably, given the wide scope of the domain, one of the key need areas identified centered on modeling 

capabilities. The group came up with a long list of capabilities needed with strong interest in modeling 

human and crowd behavior, actions of organizations, damage to infrastructure components due to various

causes such as explosions, and modeling of damaged infrastructure with and without shoring up. The 

second key need area focused on modeling of cascading impact of single and multiple incidents across 

different critical infrastructures to develop understanding of interdependencies and associated socioeconomic impact of overlapping CI sectors. A third need area revolved around VV&A practices that was 

considered to be more challenging than other domains due to the need to validate integrated models of 

multiple interdependent infrastructure. 

The key issues discussed by the CI breakout group also included one focused on communication of M&S 

results to decision makers and the users, similar to the discussion in the HMR breakout group. A number 

of attendees expressed concern for the possibility of misuse of M&S results due to incorrect understanding 

of M&S capabilities. Failure to convey critical information on limitations of M&S models to decision 

makers and users can lead to erroneous extrapolations since tools don’t have automated means to stop 

application in inappropriate situations. The second key issue that dominated the discussion was the limited 

availability of data for M&S that may lead to use of old data and in turn lead to erroneous results. It was 

mentioned that some crowd evacuation data is from the 1970s. Also, generally the infrastructure facilities 

data are not updated to include the modifications that happen over the years. 

Overall, the group saw a large opportunity for improving the prevention, preparedness, response, and 

recovery from incidents for critical infrastructure systems through use of M&S and called for concerted 

efforts to develop validated modeling capabilities and addressing the issues of communication of M&S 

capabilities and data availability. 

7.1.3. Incident Management Breakout Group Summary 

The incident management breakout group identified two major needs areas. One concerned the issue of 

standards to support M&S. Standard classifications are needed for incident management problems that in 

turn will allow quick determination of associated approaches and tools needed. Clear problem definition 

will also help development of requirements and evaluation of candidate M&S tools. Standards are also 

needed for data structures, data interfaces, geo-spatial display and visualization, and nomenclature. The 

second major need focused on the ability to identify the M&S tools applicable for an incident. A 

searchable on-line index of models appropriate to a given situation, like the “experts book” used by 

journalists, will be useful to analysts in emergency operation centers for utilizing M&S. The index will 

also be useful for identifying M&S tools for other purposes such as prevention, preparedness, and 

recovery. 

The key issues that surfaced in the discussions included the challenge of providing M&S tools across 

different levels of organizations involved in incident management. An organizational behavior research 

effort may be required to determine how different levels use information and M&S, and that may point to 

how to measure benefits of M&S. Another issue revolved around optimizing effort in validating and using 

M&S tools. At what point should analysts and users conclude validation efforts? Similarly, in incident 

management decision making, at what point should the analysts and decision makers consider that enough
47

analysis has been done to make a decision? There appears to be no consensus on approaches to answer 

such questions across different incident management situations. Answering such questions will help 

optimize the validation effort and decision making supported by M&S tools. 

7.1.4. Healthcare System Breakout Group Summary 

The healthcare systems breakout group felt that there is a critical need for a healthcare model exemplar. 

Availability of an exemplar will help improve use of M&S for healthcare systems in emergency response 

by enabling better understanding of the applicability of M&S potential users. While there is increasing use 

of M&S for healthcare applications, there is still a large part of the healthcare community involved in 

emergency response that needs to be educated on the potential of M&S in such applications. The group 

spent some time outlining the exemplar as a comprehensive model of the healthcare system including its

supply chain applicable in disaster situations. The model should include the timeline from pre-event 

actions to post-event long-term recovery. The pre-event activities may include vaccinations, training, 

alternate resource planning, and interagency coordination. Modeling of events may include operations 

under full to partial loss of capabilities of facilities, records, supplies, staff, and technicians. The post 

event modeling may include living and fatality response, patients, responders, and after-trauma. 

Another key need identified by the group concerned data input and output for M&S tools. Healthcare 

systems use a wide range of systems and formats for data. Developing new standards may not help due to 

the large effort and costs for converting the legacy systems. Data translators are needed that can allow 

accessing required data from a myriad of legacy systems. 

The key issues identified by the group revolved around the human side of the equation. The group brought 

attention to the limited understanding of M&S with healthcare professionals and recommended an effort 

for healthcare simulation training in education included in curriculums in multiple disciplines including 

nursing, medical schools, ancillary health programs, engineering, architectural, and business. An 

associated issue focused on lack of confidence in analyst capabilities and led to a recommendation of 

certification of healthcare simulation professionals.

7.2. Best Practices 

Best practices are really only effective if a methodology is well defined for a given problem solving 

approach. For example, the LUMAS model shows how learning (L) influences a documented 

methodology (M). The link between L and M in the LUMAS model is where the user of a methodology 

encounters best practices. 

Computer models and simulations are tools in a variety of problem solving methodologies such as 

operations research, systems engineering, and management science, where methodology is defined as a 

collection of related processes, methods, and tools. Methodologies evolve as they are used by practitioners 

to address new problems and as new technologies and tools are developed to support them. 

Methodological advances are encouraged by documenting existing methods, processes and tools and by 

updating these periodically based on lessons learned and best practice from practical experience. 

A variety of M&S approaches, methodologies, and tools are currently available. Some are more suitable

to solving certain classes of problems than others. The risk management framework defined in the NIPP

[DHS 2009a] provides the high level methodology relevant to use of modeling and simulation for critical 

infrastructure systems. The best practices included here will primarily focus on those used for modeling 

and simulation tool development, deployment, and use in support of the NIPP risk management 

framework. 
48

Other approaches and best practices for solving different types of homeland security modeling and 

simulation problems include: 

• Design M&S tools to meet usability requirements and to minimize user errors. 

• Perform data collection and experimentation at multi-scales running in parallel with code development 

and benchmarking of models against data early in the development cycle (used in Navy’s Dynamic 

System Mechanics Advanced Simulation (DYSMAS) project). 

• Use the scenario-driven-development process for M&S tools (used in Navy’s Combat weapon system 

(AEGIS)). 

• Follow a structured process for developing of M&S tools that includes keeping the user involved from 

the beginning and sharing accreditation guidelines upfront with the developers. 

• Use various test and validation methods to ensure the correctness of models and the usability of 

results, e.g., use of historical data or release of inert materials to validate HMR models, use of post 

incident data, demonstrations and live events. 

• Provide tools that can be used at the local level for analysis, evaluation, or training purposes. 

• Provide tools that do not require sophisticated and expensive system support. 

• Provide distributed web-based tools that allow organizations to develop and run custom exercises. 

• Utilize implementation techniques that enable fast (near real-time) computation of predictions, for 

example, changing weather conditions or hazardous material release characteristics. 

• Provide capabilities to continually update inputs to M&S tools based on real data from the field and 

provide updated predictions to incident managers. 

• Provide quantified confidence levels with M&S results (such as satisfaction/regret curves provided by 

Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System – Decision Model (CIPDSS-DM)). 

• Use reach-back centers to support use of M&S by incident managers and responders (e.g., NARAC 

and NISAC). 

• Sustain appropriate maintenance of M&S tools and processes for user feedback. 

For best practices identified by workshop attendees specific to each technical domain, see the Breakout 

Group Notes (Appendix F). 

7.3. Limitations, Cautions and Warnings 

This sub-section is intended to highlight and document the limitations associated with M&S applications to 

minimize improper use and highlight potential areas for further development. Typical M&S applications 

require significant effort and hence they should be utilized only when appropriate, i.e., they should be 

considered for complex problems that cannot be addressed using other analytical options. The level of

detail and specificity achieved by using the most sophisticated models and simulations may not be 

practical or necessary for all scenarios. 

M&S and computational science capabilities are continuing to evolve and are providing new insights on 

many complex phenomena. Since an M&S capability simulates reality, it should be critically evaluated to 

ensure that the results are credible for their specific intended use. Evaluation of these capabilities should 

take into account the many factors that affect the quality of the results including the level of understanding 

or knowledge of the issues being addressed and the experience level of model developers. For example, 

model developers must fully understand the problem being addressed and form a conceptual model for use

as a framework in developing and implementing a computational model. With a clear conceptual model in 

mind, developers have a number of choices to make in generating results from computer modeling. 

The level of detail and specificity achieved by using the most sophisticated models and simulations may 

not be practical or necessary for all assets, systems, or networks. In these circumstances, a simplified 
49

dependency and interdependency analysis based on expert judgment may provide sufficient insight to 

make informed risk management decisions in a timely manner [DHS 2009a]. 

For applications that are identified as suitable for M&S applications, it should be recognized that models 

provide results with varying levels of error and uncertainty. Analysts should ensure that decision makers 

understand the uncertainties in M&S results and other limitations and ask themselves questions such as the 

ones listed below. 

• What data, knowledge, or theories are available or applicable to address the problem at hand? 

• Is the data, knowledge, or understanding sufficient in both quality and quantity to address the problem 

at hand, or will additional data or observations be required to support development? 

• What is the risk of using erroneous results, e.g., will these results be the only input to a decision, or 

will other sources of information be available to support decision-making? 

• How can the conceptual model be expressed mathematically? 

• What boundary and initial condition should be used? 

• What modeling paradigm would be most appropriate to implement the analysis? 

• Given the developers’ experience, what particular codes would be most suitable for implementing the 

model, considering software, hardware, and other constraints and limitations? 

• Given the code has been developed, have any mistakes or errors been made in completing this or in 

entering the data? 

• Given there are no mistakes or errors found in developing the code or entering the data, are the results 

realistic, and do they make sense? 

• What approach should be used to ensure that model results are correct? 

• How do aleatory and epistemic uncertainties and approximations affect the computational results? 

• Given that everything else is correct, are the results suitable to address the problem at hand? 

• Is the tool being used within the range of its intended purpose? For example, is a model originally 

designed for training being used for incident management? 

• Are sufficient model documentation, reference data sets, and access to experts (or knowledge) 

available to facilitate the use of tools? 

• How should the results and associated uncertainty be present for use in decision making? 

• In the case of simulation-based training exercises, have the stress conditions and state of mind in the 

response personnel that could occur during a real incident such as a massive failure or attack on a 

critical infrastructure system been adequately created? If not, how will this affect the quality of 

training and conclusions drawn from the exercise? Also data inconsistencies between simulated 

exercises and real incidents may affect exercise results and trainee perceptions. Communication 

difficulties and incompatibilities between systems may not be accurately reflected in training 

exercises. 

• Incident command or incident management models are particularly susceptible to variations in 

predicted results due to difficulties in modeling human behaviors precisely and random occurrences in 

real incidens; various agencies and local governments often define similar organizations, operations,

and responsibilities differently; and incident data may be required in different formats for different 

agencies and local governments complicating the implementation of simulation-based exercises or 

analytical models. How will these factors affect the results of these models and simulations? 

• HMR models are particularly susceptible to variations in predicted results due to difficulties in 

precisely measuring topography and weather conditions. Epidemic models are particularly susceptible 

to variations in predicted results due to difficulties in precisely modeling human behaviors and random 

occurrences of transmission of diseases. How will these factors affect conclusions and actions that 

may be taken by responders based on these variations? 
50

Analysts and decision makers need to be aware of these sorts of issues when using or when presented with 

M&S results. For related discussion of limitations, cautions, and warning for each technical domain, see 

the Breakout Group Notes (Appendix F). 

7.4. Research, Development, Standards, and Implementation Issues 

A number of research, development, standards, and implementation issues remain to be addressed. A list 

of major issues is below. 

Research and Development 

• Convey uncertainty of the M&S outputs (how to do this is a key gap!) 

• Identification of technical gaps and needs for models, simulations, tools, and databases, e.g., 

increasing accuracy of hazardous material release model predictions in urban environments. 

• Develop system requirements specifications for homeland security models, simulations, tools, and 

databases. 

• Develop systems dynamics models for addressing strategic issues for different homeland security 

incidents and protection of critical infrastructures. 

• Develop mechanisms to enable access to and usage of M&S applications by users in the field (nonlaboratory personnel), SSAs, partners, critical infrastructure managers and staff, operational personnel, 

emergency response personnel, and healthcare system providers. 

• Develop simulation application architectures to enable modular system construction, software re-use, 

module integration and standard data interfaces to import data from external databases 

• Use a system-of-systems engineering approach to the development of applications. 

• Use UML/SysML in specification of homeland security M&S applications. 

• Develop M&S applications as open systems. 

• Increase reality in simulation-based training exercises and devices. 

• Extend models to include Geo-spatial Concept of Operations (GeoCONOPS) capabilities. 

• Provide capabilities for simulation of all hazards, including individual and simultaneous multiple 

events, e.g., impact of earthquake and tsunami together at nuclear plants. 

• Provide capabilities to model human and organizational behaviors. 

• Develop benchmarking data sets for identified applications within each domain. 

• Develop techniques to validate models of systems involving human behavior. 

• Provide guidance for drawing conclusions based on a combination of uncertain and accurate input 

data. 

• Provide guidance for analyzing trade-offs between risk and investment in M&S and identify point of 

diminishing return. 

Standards 

• Establish standards and guidelines for the development and implementation of sharable object-oriented 

models and simulations. 

• Standardize VV&A approaches across domains for identified application types. 

• Standardize domain specific models. 

• Develop standards for volunteered geo-spatial data (from sensors, tweets, utilities etc) and streaming

data to populate databases and rapid injects into infrastructure interdependency models. 

• Develop metadata standards for models and data for interoperability. 

• Standardize nomenclature for each domain and across domain for common concepts. 

Implementation 

• Identify appropriate models, simulations, tools, and databases to address homeland security needs. 
51

• Identify and develop common models, simulations, tools, and databases that can be shared with the 

user community. 

• Develop a central repository/ directory/ authoritative source of models and tools with related 

information such as guidance on use and quality. 

• Integrate models and simulations implemented for different technical domains as well as with other 

homeland security software applications and databases. 

• Establish security and protection mechanisms for sensitive data. 

• Address issues of ownership and usage of publicly vs. privately developed models, simulations, tools, 

and databases. 

• Ensure adequate return on investment to stakeholders and sponsors for research projects. 

• Address the major constraint of organizational resistance to sharing data – biggest obstacle may be 

policy and culture, not technology. 

For more detailed identification of issues and recommendations for each technical domain, see the 

Breakout Group Notes (Appendix F). 
52

8. Conclusion

This proceedings document is the starting point of an effort to capture the current knowledge relevant to 

M&S for homeland security applications. It focuses on four homeland security domains: hazardous 

material releases, critical infrastructure systems, incident management, and healthcare systems. For each 

of these domains, the document identifies needs, translates those needs into required M&S capabilities, 

and provides summary information on resources available to meet the needs and requirements. The 

information on needs, requirements, and resources is used together with research, development, and 

implementation experiences to distill practices and issues for future efforts. 

The compendium of homeland security M&S information contained in this document was used to facilitate 

input from more than 70 domain experts and stakeholders in a workshop setting. The U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security and the National Institute of Standards and Technology hosted the workshop at NIST’s

Gaithersburg, Maryland campus in June 2011. It is hoped that this document will provide value as a 

reference for program managers, project managers, researchers, developers, and implementers of M&S for

homeland security applications. Use of this document as a common reference may help increase the 

awareness across the associated community and help enhance collaborative efforts for homeland security

applications of M&S for homeland security. 

The workshop attendees found the initial workshop information very useful and generated ideas for future 

work for refining and making the information on M&S more accessible. The information should be made

available on-line to allow frequent refreshing of contents to stay updated. Needs and requirements for

M&S may vary based on the application being used in preparedness, response, or recovery and hence may 

be enhanced accordingly. The value of information on M&S can be increased through future efforts 

defining a criteria for inclusion of M&S tools that provide a consistent level of detail, grouping by 

application (vs. current alphabetical listing). Complementary to the defined criteria would be to provide 

information or links to information on validity evaluations and quality, intended uses (training, decision 

support, level of organization), limitations of models, availability, currency, complexity, and ease of use. 

Effort is also needed to present M&S in a larger framework of analysis tools to encourage its appropriate 

use. Domains with limited prior exposure to M&S will gain from development of exemplars that 

demonstrate models, data inputs and outputs for applications of interest, and encourage good practices. 
53

9. Selected Acronyms and Abbreviations 

AHRQ – The Agency of Healthcare Research & Quality

AIA – American Institute of Architects 

ALOHA – Area Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres 

ANSI – American National Standards Institute 

AOO – area of operations 

CBRNE – chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive 

CDC – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CI – Critical Infrastructure Systems 

CIKR – Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources 

CIMIT – Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology 

CIP – Critical Infrastructure Protection 

CIPDSS-DM – Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System – Decision Model 

CIRTS – Complex Incident Response Training System 

CISL – Center for Immersive and Simulation-based Learning 

CM – Combat Medics Project 

CMMI – Capability Maturity Model Integration 

CNN – Cable News Network 

DHS – Deparment of Homeland Security 

DoD – Department of Defense 

DOE – Department of Energy and Design of Experiments 

DOT – Department of Transporation 

DTRA – Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

EIC – Emergency Interoperability Consortium

EL – Engineering Laboratory 

EMS – Emergency Management System 

EMT – Emergency Medical Technician 

EPA – Environmental Protection Agency 

ESF – Emergency Support Function 

ESRI – Environmental Systems Research Institute

EU – European Union 

FEMA – Federal Emergency Management Agency 

FGDC – Federal Geographic Data Committee

GIS – geographic information system 

GTD – Global Terrorism Database 

GWU – George Washington University 

Hazmat – hazardous material 

HAZUS – HAZards United States 

HHS – Health and Human Services 

HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

HMR – Hazardous Material Releases 

HS – Healthcare Systems 

HSIN – Homeland Security Information Network 

HSPD – Homeland Security presidential Directive 

HVAC – heating, ventilation, and air conditioning 

ICS – Incident Command System 

IDW – integrated data warehouse 

IED – Improvised Explosive Device 

IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
54

IM – Incident Management 

IMAAC – Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center 

INCITS – International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS)

IND – Improvised Nuclear Device 

IP – Office of Infrastructure Protection 

ISO – International Organization for Standardization

IT – information technology 

JCR – The Joint Commission Resources

KML – Keyhole Markup Language 

LLNL – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 

LUMAS – Learning, User of methodology, Methodology formally described, Actual approach adopted, 

and real world problem Situation 

MOVES – Modeling, Virtual Environments, and Simulation Institute 

MS or M&S – modeling and simulation 

MSA – modeling, simulation, and analysis 

MSEL – Master Scenario Event List 

NARAC – National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center 

NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

NEHRP – National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program 

NEP – National Exercise Program 

NESC – National Exercise Simulation Center 

NFPA – National Fire Protection Association

NGO – non-governmental organization 

NIC – National Integration Center 

NICOE – National Intrepid Center of Excellence 

NIMS – National Incident Management System 

NIOSH – National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health 

NIPP – National Infrastructure Protection Plan 

NISAC – National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center 

NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology 

NLE – National Level Exercises 

NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NPS – National Planning Scenario or Naval Postgraduate School 

NRC – National Research Council or Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

NRF – National Response Framework 

NRL – Naval Research Laboratory 

NSS – National Security System 

OASIS – Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards

OFCM – Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meterology 

OGC – The Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc.

OLIVE – Online Interactive Virtual Environment 

OMG – Object Management Group

PLE – Principal-Level Exercises 

R&D – research and development 

S&T – DHS Science and Technology Directorate 

SDO – standards development organization 

SEDRIS – Synthetic Environment Data Representation and Interchange Specification

SISO – Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization 

SOP – standard operating procedure 

SSA – Sector-Specific Agency 

SSP – Sector Specific Plans 
55

START – National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism 

SUMMIT – Standard Unified Modeling Mapping Integration Toolkit 

T&E – test and evaluation 

TELL – Training, Exercise & Lessons Learned Project

VMASC – Virginia Modeling And Simulation Center 

VNN – Virtual News Network 

VVA or VV&A – verification, validation and accreditation 

W3C – World Wide Web Consortium

WEB3D – Web 3D Consortium

WMO – World Meteorological Organization 

WUI – wildland-urban interface 
56

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[AAI 2007] Healthcare Modeling Studio. Automation Associates Inc. Available via: 

http://www.blueminegroup.com/aai/pos_healthcare_modeling_studio.asp 

[accessed Jan. 3, 2011] 

[Abdalla 2007] Abdalla, R., Tao, V., Cheng, Q., Li, J., 2007, A network-centric modeling 

approach for infrastructure interdependency, Photogrammetric Engineering & 

Remote Sensing, 73(6), 681-690. 

[ABSA 2010] Risk Group Classification for Infectious Agents. American Biological Safety 

Association (ABSA). Available via: 

http://www.absa.org/riskgroups/bacteria.html [Accessed Dec. 12, 2010] 

[ADL 2011] Advanced Distributed Learning Sharable Content Object Reference Model 

(SCORM). Available via: 

http://www.adlnet.gov/Technologies/scorm/default.aspx [accessed Jan. 10, 

2011]. 

[AFCESA 2001] Protective Actions For A Hazardous Material Release. Headquarters, Air Force 

Civil Engineer Support Agency Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida 32403. 

Available via: 

http://www.emc.ornl.gov/CSEPPweb/data/Reports/Misc. Reports/HAZMAT.pdf

[accessed April 3, 2011] 

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90

Appendix A – Capabilities and Requirements Specifications 

This section provides a high level list of capabilities and requirements for homeland security model 

implementations. Capabilities and requirement specifications are categorized into five major areas: 

• Intended Use, 

• Functionality, 

• Data, 

• User interfaces, 

• Performance, and 

• Verification, validation, and accreditation. 

A specific system implementation may contain only a subset of these requirements as determined by 

program management and/or the customers and users. 

A.1 - HMR M&S Capabilities and Requirements 

A.1.1 - Intended Use 

Incident managers and emergency planners, support and training personnel will use hazardous material 

release models and simulations to: 

a) Analyze hazardous material releases and provide predictive data to incident management personnel. 

b) Support training exercises, drills, emergencies, tests, alerts, and real world incidents (terrorist attacks, 

industrial accidents, and natural disasters, e.g., clouds from volcanic eruptions). 

c) Determine the readiness of healthcare systems to respond to various types of emergencies. 

d) Model past hazardous material releases for education, training, and analysis purposes. 

A.1.2 - Functionality 

This section identifies functions that may be included in hazardous material release models and 

simulations. 

a) Predict the initial direction, travel, and dispersion of a plume over time from a single or multiple 

sources taking into account the type of source, material/chemical properties, release location, weather 

conditions, terrain, urban areas, and other man-made structures. 

b) Predict the concentration of the chemical or biological agent within the plume and flow through 

drainage areas over time. 

c) Estimate deposition and contamination levels for air, water, ground, and building surfaces. 

d) Identify exposed population and predict exposure levels over time. 

e) Identify the time when the sensors placed in the area of interest will be triggered following the release 

of the plume. 

f) Provide for reverse simulations to estimate unknown source amounts, probable release locations, and 

support event reconstruction. 

g) Provide capabilities to refine simulations based on field measurements and other sensor data. 

h) Support a number of different established problems, models, representations, and techniques including 

chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives (CBRNE) source characterizations, 

Gaussian-plumes, dense gas dispersion physics, boundary layer meteorology, atmospheric turbulence, 

urban flow and dispersion, high altitude dispersion, time integrated dosages, inverse modeling and 

event reconstruction. 
91

i) Automate the utilization of sensor field measurements to estimate source terms and optimize 

predictions. 

j) Couple sensor data and simulations via Bayesian inference, stochastic sampling, and optimization 

methods. 

k) Perform backwards analyses to determine probabilistic distribution of unknown source characteristics. 

l) Generate optimal and probabilistic forward plume model predictions. 

m) Use Markov chain sampling to determine probabilistic source locations based on sensor readings, 

Green’s function methodology (heat conduction and diffusion), fate and transport models. 

n) Provide source characterization models for explosive dispersal devices that predict airborne fractions

and particle-size distribution. 

o) Provide fast-running empirical urban models and high-resolution building-scale computational fluid 

dynamics models use finite element modeling (FEM) techniques. 

p) Support vector and raster representations of geography, buildings, and other structures. 

q) Support a range of different grid resolutions, e.g., 30 meter, 100 meter, 1 kilometer, 10 kilometer. 

r) Model indoor exposure levels due to the effects of building leakiness, i.e., outdoor plume air 

concentration versus corresponding indoor air concentration. 

s) Support the integration and/or distributed execution of interrelated models including dispersion, 

weather, exposure and hazard effects, watershed flows. 

t) Support various release mechanisms including explosions, fires, volcanic eruptions, gas cylinders, 

sprayers, manual methods, tank ruptures, and building collapses. 

u) Support micro and meso-scale forecasts (10 km). 

v) Model radiation effects including fallout, wet deposition hotspots, ground shine, cloud shine, and 

inhalation doses. 

w) Identify regions where the exposed population will experience life threatening, serious long-lasting, or 

notable discomfort effects. 

A.1.3 - Data 

This section identifies input and output data types that may be supported for hazardous material release 

models and simulations. 

a) Meteorological data: observed and forecast weather conditions that may affect a plume including wind 

speed, anthropogenic heating, direction, and precipitation 

b) Source description data to define the scenario in the source model (where, when, what, how much). 

For example: 

• Plume release mechanisms and their attributes: explosions, fires, compressed gas 

cylinders, tank ruptures, and manual release of powders 

• Specifications of characteristics of an explosive release: detonation point, explosive source 

characteristics (particle size distribution and spatial distribution of mass from surface to 

several hundred meters above ground) 

c) Hazardous agent characteristics including form (gas, liquid, or powder), chemical and physical 

properties, material properties, particle size and weight distributions, cohesion, and lethality 

d) Specification of the incident area including location of source, terrain, and buildings, geo-spatial data, 

and data on critical infrastructure in the area that may be affected 

e) Population location, density, and attributes by time of day 

f) Demographics data 

g) Health action levels associated with the known or suspected released agents 
92

A.1.4 - User Interfaces 

This section identifies user interface capabilities that may be supported for hazardous material release 

models and simulations. The user interface requirements will depend on the scope and capabilities of the 

M&S application. For example, the requirements will be different for a system that can quickly run on a 

laptop at the incident site to determine immediate risks as compared to systems that can provide 

predictions over time and over a large area at higher accuracies with support from experts for interpretation 

of results. The brief list below provides high level requirements as a starting point; additional 

requirements will need to be developed based on the scope and the user for specific applications and 

should be driven by user domain analysis. 

a) Provide capabilities to configure simulation runs with specific release incident parameters, weather 

conditions, and geographic regions 

b) Provide a capability for modifying of key release parameters including location of source, agent 

characteristics, and location of sensors on the fly

c) Generate graphical views of plume dispersion over a 2D or 3D representation of area of interest with 

appropriate legends and documentation 

d) Provide user control mechanisms that effect rapid execution/playback of animation to move forward 

and back to desired points in time 

e) Use various standard representation schemes to display release effects including chemical 

concentration, radiation intensity, toxicity, lethality, and exposure levels, e.g., colors, shading, contour 

lines 

f) Provide interfaces to generate still image and video files (such as Keyhole Markup Language (KML) 

files, shape files to input GIS systems) that can be used to transfer results for viewing or playback 

using other software tools 

g) Provide output products in standardized formats including graphical and associated metadata and data 

files based on type of release and users 

h) Specify uncertainty using appropriate graphical and numerical means in various output products 

i) Provide interpretation of output products and what it means while identifying the impact of 

assumptions used in the model 

j) Define legal coverage and disclaimers as appropriate for indemnification 

A.1.5 - Performance 

This section identifies possible performance considerations for hazardous material release models and 

simulations. 

a) Support fast running local models that generate predictions in 5-15 minutes 

b) Provide for updates from real time meteorological databases and observations 

c) Share model predictions with other software applications, e.g., incident management applications 

A.1.6 – Credibility and Evaluation 

This section identifies approaches that may be used to verify, validate, and/or accredit hazardous material 

release models and simulations. 

a) Use the release and monitoring of harmless/inert tracer chemicals to validate models 

b) Use of validated dispersion models as component modules in other systems 

c) Validate new models by comparison of model predictions against historical release data 
93

A.2 - Critical Infrastructure M&S Capabilities and Requirements 

This section translates the high level needs discussed in the previous section to a set of requirements. The 

requirements are intended to be common across all the CI and hence at a high level. These requirements 

will serve as the starting set that may need to be enhanced for specific CI for unique intended use. A 

separate document with a more detailed set of common requirements is being developed in a related effort. 

A.2.1 - Intended Use 

CIKR models and simulations will be used by analysts, CIKR managers, emergency planners, first 

responders, and training personnel to: 

a) Analyze the resource requirements, behavior, and performance of CIKR systems, 

b) Determine the readiness of CIKR systems to respond to various types of emergencies, 

c) Analyze interdependencies between CIKR systems, 

d) Model past incidents and system failures for education, training, and analysis purposes, 

e) Evaluate security measures and practices developed for CIKR systems, and 

f) Conduct training exercises, drills, emergencies, tests, alerts, real world incidents, and planning for

national security events. 

A.2.2 - Functionality 

This section identifies possible functions and capabilities that may be included in CIKR models and 

simulations. 

a) Create and evaluate models/computer simulations that provide more information about 

interdependencies, and promote rapid response, repair, and recovery from attacks 

b) Simulate incidents requiring a response based on policies and procedures established for the entity 

involved 

c) Predict the impact of vulnerabilities and protective measures 

d) Create simulations and tabletop exercises for national-level multi-agency events 

e) Conduct tabletop exercises that simulate real-world security emergency in order to assess and improve 

the emergency response and preparedness of owners and operators, State and local law enforcement, 

and local emergency responders 

f) Simulate response to catastrophic incidents 

g) Simulate threats, identify vulnerabilities in CIKR systems, measure potential impacts, and evaluate 

countermeasure, mitigation, and response strategies

h) Perform cross-sector interdependency analyses 

i) Test facilities protective measures using trained teams of simulated adversaries to help asset owners 

and operators determine the effectiveness of their protection programs and prepare staff to respond 

quickly and properly in the event of an actual incident 

j) Establish capabilities for modeling and simulation of strategies for quickly evacuating large crowds 

(e.g., 50,000–130,000 individuals) 

k) Develop modeling and simulation methods to determine the resilience of the sector when an event or 

incident occurs 

l) Create multi-use tools that supports situational awareness, command and control operations, planning, 

simulations, research, training, and re-analysis of past events 

m) Conduct cyber-security assessments of control systems and related technologies 

n) Develop advanced control system technologies using modeling and simulation to better evaluate risk 
94

o) Develop and participate in threat simulations and exercises, including those that test cyber-security 

readiness and response capabilities 

p) Use system studies, models, simulations, and analyses to identify, develop, and submit gaps that 

represent mission needs 

q) Provide simulations to train security personnel to secure facilities against a potential attack and handle 

the aftermath of an attack 

r) Provide simulation capabilities for modeling, simulation, and visualization of the Internet as it relates 

to each CIKR sector 

s) Setup more realistic simulations of failure scenarios and the consequences of full or partial failure of 

CIKR systems 

t) Provide capabilities to model chains-of-events, transactions, etc. that lead to CIKR system failures 

u) Provide software resources including the tools, models, and communications databases needed to 

assess network performance, perform modeling and simulation, and visualize network topologies as 

they relate to CIKR systems 

v) Provide capabilities for dependency identification and its utility with other sectors for their own risk 

analysis and management efforts 

w) Support broader national-level interdependency analyses conducted by enhancing the modeling and 

simulation capabilities of national laboratories and government agencies 

x) Provide functions to create high level models of CIKR evolutions over time to support analysis of 

system vulnerabilities, security, readiness, performance and resource requirements 

y) Provide training and exercise simulations for CIKR systems that provide functionality for various 

incident and exercise parameters, exercise control, and after action reviews 

z) Provide various types of training implementations including tabletop exercises, 2D and 3D computer 

gaming, and immersive virtual reality environments 

aa) Provide capabilities to refine simulations based on actual incident data, field measurements, and sensor 

data 

bb) Support vector and raster representations of geography, buildings, and other CIKR structures and 

systems 

cc) Support a range of different grid resolutions on critical infrastructure models, maps, and displays, e.g., 

30 meter, 100 meter, 1 kilometer, 10 kilometer 

dd) Support the integration and/or distributed execution of interrelated CIKR and other models including 

hazardous material release exposure and effects, incident management systems, healthcare systems, 

weather, and watershed flows 

ee) Identify regions where the exposed population will experience life threatening, serious long-lasting or 

notable effects from incidents or failure of CIKR systems 

ff) Include capabilities to model cyber-security attacks on CIKR control systems, such as, Supervisory 

Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems 

A.2.3 - Data 

This section identifies data management issues as well as input and output data types that may be 

supported for CIKR models and simulations. 

a) Establish a data taxonomy, meta-data framework, and detailed information models for CIKR 

simulation and modeling data to help support analyses and support data interoperability and 

data/information fusion 

b) Establish standard data structures, databases, and exchange mechanisms for CIKR data used in models 

and simulations 

c) Establish a CIKR M&S data warehouse that categorizes each item in a data item into non-overlapping 

region to support filtering, grouping, and labeling
95

d) Establish processes to ensure data quality and provide traceability mechanisms to track data back to 

original sources 

e) Establish an information assurance program to manage risks related to the use, processing, storage, and 

transmission of information or data and the systems and processes used for those purposes 

f) Provide information assurance measures that protect and defend information and information systems 

by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and non-repudiation of CIKR 

M&S data 

g) Support the Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program that enhances information 

sharing between the private sector and the government in order to analyze and secure critical 

infrastructure and protected systems, identify vulnerabilities and develop risk assessments, and 

enhance recovery preparedness measures 

h) Use geographical information systems-based methods to track and model the effects of incidents on 

CIKR systems, e.g., the flow and concentration of contaminants in source water supplies 

i) Establish a data taxonomy, information models, databases, and exchange mechanisms for CIKR data 

including: 

• Structure and layout of CIKR systems and support organizations 

• CIKR system data flows 

• Inventory of CIKR resources 

• Standard CIKR management operations, processes and procedures 

• Message logs and incident time lines 

• Specification of the incident area including event types and parameters, timing of events, schedule 

of restoration activities, terrain and buildings in affected areas 

• Demographics data: population location, density, and attributes by time of day 

• Meteorological data: observed and forecast weather conditions that may affect an incident 

including wind speed, direction, and precipitation 

• Plume data for hazardous material releases and explosions 

j) Support of appropriate existing data standards in model implementations, training and exercise 

simulations, e.g., SCORM – Shareable Content Object Reference Model [ADL 2011]. 

k) Include capability for geographic models to utilize raster and elevation data. 

A.2.4 - User Interfaces 

This section identifies user interface capabilities that may be supported for CIKR models and simulations. 

a) Provide three-dimensional urban imagery with data visualization, zoom capabilities, and high-spatial 

resolution 

b) Provide after-action reporting capabilities to identify weaknesses and issues identified from exercises, 

assign offices to be responsible for correcting problems, and track these assignments to ensure 

completion 

c) Provide tools for modeling, simulation, and visualization of information technology systems 

d) Provide capabilities to configure simulation runs with specific CIKR systems, incident types and 

associated parameters, affected populations, responder resources, weather conditions, and geographic 

regions 

e) Generate graphical views of CIKR systems, failures, incident and responder activities over a 2D or 3D 

representation of area of interest at different levels of resolution 

f) Provide user control mechanisms that affect rapid execution/playback of simulation runs to move 

forward and back to desired points in time 

g) Use various DHS standard symbology, maps, and representation schemes to display incident 

parameters, resource locations, and time lines 

h) Provide virtual reality interfaces to support 3D gaming for critical infrastructure exercises 
96

i) Provide exercise controller interfaces for the initiation, execution, as well as playback of exercise 

simulations for after action reviews and hot washes

j) Provide interfaces to generate still image and video files that can be used to transfer results for viewing 

or playback using other software tools 

k) Provide displays that help users understand the uncertainty associated with M&S results 

A.2.5 - Performance 

This section identifies possible performance considerations for CIKR models and simulations. 

a) Support various simulation techniques as appropriate, such as system dynamics modeling, discrete 

event simulation, business process modeling, agent-based modeling, and computational fluid dynamics 

models as appropriate to create specific individual-based computational models for modeling complex 

systems, emergence, Monte Carlo Methods, computational sociology, multi-agent systems, and 

evolutionary programming 

b) Support time scaling of models and simulations and abilities to move forward rapidly in time to focus 

on events of interest (real-time for training and faster than real-time to support planning and analysis 

during actual incidents) 

c) Provide for updates from real time CIKR system information, meteorological databases and 

observations 

d) Share model predictions with other software applications 

e) Provide capabilities for interoperable networked implementations at different sites by different 

organizations 

A.2.6 - Credibility and Evaluation 

This section identifies considerations for ensuring the credibility and evaluating CIKR models and 

simulations. 

a) Support the Systems-Based Risk Management (SBRM) process 

b) Establish cross-sector working groups to support the development and evaluation of simulation models 

c) Support evaluation of M&S tools using standard validated scenarios with data and results 

d) Support evaluation of M&S tools through identification of standard processes and techniques for the 

purpose that may be customized to CIKR sectors if needed 

e) Establishing procedures for evaluating credibility of CIKR and other data used as input for M&S tools 

f) Provide guidance for generating uncertainty data with results from M&S tools 

A.3 - Incident Management M&S Capabilities and Requirements 

A.3.1 - Intended Use 

Incident management models and simulations will be used by incident managers, emergency planners, first 

responders, and training personnel to: 

a) Analyze the resource requirements, behavior, and performance of incident management systems, 

b) Conduct training exercises, drills, emergencies, tests, alerts, real world incidents, and planning for

national security events, 

c) Determine the readiness of incident management systems to respond to various types of emergencies, 

and 

d) Model past incidents for education, training, and analysis purposes 
97

A.3.2 - Functionality 

This section identifies possible functions that may be included in incident management models and 

simulations. 

a) Provide functions to create high level models of responder evolutions over time to support system 

performance and resource analysis – the models should comprehend the possibility that intended 

responders are among the victims. 

b) Provide training and exercise simulations for incident management that provide functionality for 

various incident and exercise parameters, exercise control, and after action reviews 

c) Provide simulations that can be used through multiple phases including training, day-to-day operations

and incident response planning and operations to allow personnel to develop and reinforce the 

expertise over time 

d) Provide various types of training implementations including table top exercises, 2D and 3D computer 

gaming, and immersive virtual reality environments 

e) Provide capabilities to refine simulations based on actual incident data, field measurements, and sensor 

data 

f) Support vector and raster representations of geography, buildings, and other structures 

g) Support a range of different grid resolutions on incident management models, maps and displays, e.g., 

30 meter, 100 meter, 1 kilometer, 10 kilometer 

h) Support the integration and/or distributed execution of interrelated models including hazardous 

material release exposure and hazard effects, critical infrastructure systems, healthcare systems, 

weather, and watershed flows 

i) Identify regions where the exposed population will experience life threatening, serious long-lasting or 

notable effects from incidents 

A.3.3 - Data 

This section identifies input and output data types that may be supported for incident management models 

and simulations. 

a) Structure of responder organizations and inventory of responder resources 

b) Standard incident management processes and procedures 

c) Message logs and incident time lines 

d) Specification of the incident area including event types and parameters, timing of events, schedule of

responder activities, terrain and buildings in affected areas 

e) Demographics data: population location, density, and attributes by time of day 

f) Meteorological data: observed and forecast weather conditions that may affect an incident including 

wind speed, direction, and precipitation 

g) Plume data hazardous material releases and explosions 

h) Support of appropriate data standards in model implementations, training and exercise simulations, 

e.g., SCORM - Shareable Content Object Reference Model [ADL 2011] 

A.3.4 - User Interface 

This section identifies user interface capabilities that may be supported for incident management models 

and simulations. 

a) Provide capabilities to configure simulation runs with specific incident types and associated 

parameters, affected populations, responder resources, weather conditions, and geographic regions 
98

b) Generate graphical views of incident and responder activities over a 2D or 3D representation of area of 

interest at different levels of resolution 

c) Provide user control mechanisms that affect rapid execution/playback of simulation runs to move 

forward and back to desired points in time 

d) Use various DHS standard symbology, maps, and representation schemes to display incident 

parameters, resource locations, and timelines 

e) Provide virtual reality interfaces to support 3d gaming for incident management exercises 

f) Provide exercise controller interfaces to effect the initiation, execution, as well as playback of exercise 

simulations for after action reviews and hot washes

g) Provide interfaces to generate still image and video files that can be used to transfer results for viewing 

or playback using other software tools 

A.3.5 - Performance 

This section identifies possible performance considerations for incident management models and 

simulations. 

a) Support time scaling of models and simulations and abilities to move forward rapidly in time to focus 

on events of interest (real-time and faster than real-time to support analysis during actual incidents) 

b) Provide for updates from real time meteorological databases and observations 

c) Share model predictions with other software applications 

d) Provide capabilities for interoperable networked implementations at different sites by different 

organizations 

A.3.6 - Credibility and Evaluation 

This section identifies approaches that may be used to evaluate and determine the credibility of incident 

management models and simulations. 

a) Conduct walkthroughs of simulation models of incident management simulations and models with 

experienced incident managers and first responders 

b) Compare results and predictions of incident management models against past events using historical 

data

c) Conduct side by side training exercises using conventional techniques (e.g., tabletop exercises) and 

computer-based simulations to compare effectiveness in achieving intended goals such as training 

objectives, realism, and exercise resource requirements

A.4 - Healthcare Systems M&S Capabilities and Requirements 

This section translates the high level needs discussed in the previous section to a set of requirements. The 

requirements are intended to be common across all healthcare systems and hence at a high level. These

requirements will serve as the starting set that may need to be enhanced for specific healthcare system for 

unique intended use. A separate document with a more detailed set of common requirements is being 

developed in a related effort. 

A.4.1 - Intended Use 

Healthcare organization managers, emergency planners, first responders, doctors and nurses, support and 

training personnel will use healthcare systems models and simulations to: 

a) Analyze the resource requirements, behavior, and performance of healthcare systems, 
99

b) Conduct training exercises, drills, emergencies, tests, alerts, and support real world incidents (natural 

disasters, terrorist attacks, and epidemics), 

c) Determine the readiness of healthcare systems to respond to various types of emergencies, 

d) Model past incidents for education, training, and analysis purposes, 

e) Support communication of current status and available response options, 

f) Evaluate and implement response options based on real-time information. Update responses as 

situation unfolds, and 

g) Build consensus for response decisions. 

A.4.2 - Functionality 

This section identifies possible functions that may be included in healthcare system models and 

simulations. 

a) Provide functions to create high level models of healthcare system operations and evolutions over time

to support system performance and resource analysis

b) Provide training and exercise simulations for healthcare personnel that provide functionality for 

various incident and exercise parameters, exercise control, and after action reviews 

c) Provide various types of training implementations including tabletop exercises, 2D and 3D computer 

gaming, immersive virtual reality environments, training facilities, and mannequins 

d) Provide capabilities to refine simulations based on actual incident data, hospital usage data, medical

assessments, and field measurements 

e) Support representations of geography, buildings, disease exposure and spread, lethality levels, 

healthcare institutions, equipment, personnel, victims, patients 

f) Support the integration and/or distributed execution of interrelated models including epidemics, 

hazardous material release exposure and hazard effects, critical infrastructure systems, incident 

management systems, and weather 

g) Identify regions where the exposed population will experience life threatening, serious long-lasting, or 

notable effects from incidents 

h) Identify and specify the system state for different health care domains across integrated health 

emergency Area of Operations (AOO) over time 

i) Integrate healthcare response with law enforcement plans and authority 

j) Provide capability to analyze impact of incident and response actions at different resolution levels 

from population to individuals 

A.4.3 - Data 

This section identifies input and output data types that may be supported for healthcare models and 

simulations. 

a) Structure of healthcare organizations and inventory of resources 

b) Standard healthcare processes and procedures (e.g., triage and treatments) 

c) Message logs and incident time lines 

d) Specification of the incident area including event types and parameters, timing of events, schedule of

responder and healthcare personnel activities, population, terrain and buildings in affected areas 

e) Pre-incident protocols and associated resource requirements 

f) Casualty data including injury analysis, trauma types 

g) Treatment plans for casualties of different types and associated resource requirements 

h) Demographics data: population location, density, and attributes by time of day 

i) Meteorological data: observed and forecast weather conditions that may affect an incident including 

wind speed, direction, and precipitation 
100

j) Plume data hazardous material releases and explosions 

k) Support of appropriate data standards in model implementations, training and exercise simulations, 

e.g., Shareable Content Object Reference Model [ADL 2011] 

A.4.4 - User Interfaces 

This section identifies user interface capabilities that may be supported for healthcare system models and 

simulations. 

a) Provide capabilities to configure simulation runs with specific incident types and associated 

parameters, affected populations, responder and healthcare system resources, weather conditions, and 

geographic regions 

b) Generate graphical views of incident, responder, and healthcare system activities over a 2D or 3D 

representation of area of interest at different levels of resolution 

c) Provide user control mechanisms that affect rapid execution/playback of simulation runs to move 

forward and back to desired points in time 

d) Use various DHS standard symbology, maps, and representation schemes to display incident 

parameters, resource locations, and timelines 

e) Provide virtual reality interfaces to support 3D gaming for healthcare exercises 

f) Provide exercise controller interfaces to effect the initiation, execution, as well as playback of exercise 

simulations for after action reviews and hot washes

g) Provide interfaces to generate still image and video files that can be used to transfer results for viewing 

or playback using other software tools 

h) Integrate simulations with other healthcare system models and with other related domain models, such 

as, with traffic models for accurate representation of ambulance travel times 

i) Generate alternate scenarios and analyses to develop insights in to healthcare system operations and its 

capabilities 

A.4.5 - Performance 

This section identifies possible performance considerations for healthcare system models and simulations. 

a) Support time scaling of models and simulations and abilities to move forward rapidly in time to focus 

on events of interest (real-time for training and faster than real-time to support analysis during actual 

incidents and planning) 

b) Provide for updates from real time epidemic, incident, meteorological databases and observations 

c) Share model predictions with other software applications 

d) Provide capabilities for distributed execution of interoperable networked implementations at different

sites by different organizations 

A.4.6 - Credibility and Evaluation 

This section identifies approaches that may be used to evaluate and determine the credibility of healthcare 

models and simulations. 

a) Conduct walkthroughs of simulation models of healthcare simulations and models with experienced 

healthcare personnel, incident managers and first responders. 

b) Compare results and predictions of healthcare system models against past events using historical data.
101

c) Conduct side by side training exercises using conventional techniques (e.g., tabletop exercises) and 

computer-based simulations to compare effectiveness in achieving intended goals such as training 

objectives, realism, and exercise resource requirements. 
102

Appendix B – Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities

B.1 – HMR Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities 

This section identifies projects, facilities, and other capabilities that currently exist that are working on 

modeling and simulation of hazardous material releases. 

BioWatch Indoor Reachback Center (BIRC), Sandia National Laboratory – BIRC’s role is to provide 

scientific modeling support to decision makers responding to a public release of a biohazard agent. BIRC 

is prepared to deliver information to decision makers (typically, the emergency response personnel at hightraffic transportation facilities) within two hours of notification of a biohazard release. The information 

includes important issues such as the size and location of the release and recommendations as to where

sampling efforts should be focused. BIRC can also offer insight into whether the release is merely 

environmental in nature, or intentional, for example a terrorist attack. BIRC is part of the Department of 

Homeland Security’s BioWatch program, an early warning system designed to rapidly detect trace 

amounts of biological materials at various public facilities across the United States. BioWatch assists 

public health experts to determine the presence and geographic extent of a biological agent release, 

allowing federal, state, and local officials to more quickly determine emergency response, medical care, 

and consequence management needs [Sandia 2008].

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Exposure Research Lab (NERL) – located in Research 

Triangle Park, North Carolina, provides scientific understanding, information and assessment tools to 

reduce and quantify the uncertainty in the Agency’s exposure and risk assessments for all environmental 

stressors [EPA 2010a]. The Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division provides numerical and 

physical modeling support to the homeland security mission in protecting against the environmental and

health effects of terrorist acts. This involves numerical modeling complemented by physical modeling in 

the Division’s wind tunnel. For example, a 1:600 scale model of lower Manhattan was built and the 

dispersion of material from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers was studied under various 

meteorological conditions. Also, dispersion of airborne material around the Pentagon was simulated in the 

wind tunnel. 

Evaluation, improvement and guidance for the use of local-scale emergency prediction and response tools 

for airborne hazards in built environments: This action of the European Cooperation in Science and 

Technology (COST) under its Earth System Science and Environmental Management area is aimed at 

developing an inventory of the different models and methodologies currently in use for predicting the 

dispersion of hazardous materials in urban areas. It also aims to characterize their performance and to 

establish strategies for their improvement. It has been identified as a first cross-community initiative to 

harmonize European efforts in threat assessment and reduction for local-scale airborne hazards [COST 

2011]. 

Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (FRMAC)- FRMAC is one of the emergency 

response resources, or assets, administered by NNSA. The Federal Government maintains an extensive 

response capability for radiological monitoring and assessment. In the unlikely event of a major 

radiological incident, the full resources of the U.S. Government will be coordinated to support state, local, 

and tribal governments. The FRMAC mission is to coordinate and manage all federal radiological 

monitoring and assessment activities during major radiological emergencies within the United States in

support of state, local, and tribal governments through the Lead Federal Agency [NNSA 2010]. 
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Indoor Environment Department Facilities and Instrumentation, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 

– The department has a number of facilities for indoor environment research under controlled conditions. 

The Stainless Steel Environmental Chamber is designed for investigations of emissions of pollutants from 

indoor sources under very low background pollutant conditions and other related research. The Dual 

Chamber Facility is constructed of conventional indoor materials to more closely simulate rooms in a 

building, e.g., with painted wallboard. The Indoor Dispersion Experimental Facility is equipped for 

studies of air and pollution transport and dispersion in large indoor spaces, and evaluation of 

computational fluid dynamics simulations using advanced experimental techniques. Ventilation Research

Laboratories are used to develop and evaluate tracer gas analytical methods, to calibrate tracer gas 

instrumentation, and to assemble gas samplers and other instruments. The duct research laboratory is for 

research on building duct systems with respect to energy losses and indoor air quality [LBNL 2010a]. 

Joint Ambient Breeze Tunnel (JABT), West Desert Test Center, Dugway Proving Grounds, U.S. Army - 

The tunnel can be used for physically testing the behavior of different challenge materials, interferents, and 

obscurants. The facility is 530 ft long, 42 ft. wide and 58 ft high and rests on a 15-cm (6-in) thick, steelreinforced concrete pad. An inner movable ceiling provides flexibility in size and allows the operator to 

tailor challenges enabling prudent use of chemical and biological agent stimulants. Sensors are 

strategically located in areas where they will not interfere with cloud movement or standoff detector line of 

sight. Referee/control and monitoring instruments are housed in the test control room annex near the 

middle of the JABT. Variable-speed blowers move the cloud through the test section at speeds ranging 

from 0.2 to 6.0 meters per second (0.4 to 12 mph). Clouds may be as long as 100 meters (328 ft) while

moving through the test section at the desired concentration [DPG 2010]. 

Joint Urban Test Bed (JUTB): The OFCM formed the Joint Action Group for Joint Urban Test Beds 

(JAG/JUTB) under the Working Group for Urban Meteorology (WG/UM) for recommending criteria for 

multifunctional joint urban test beds. During FY 2010, the JAG/JUTB continued work on an operational 

concept document for multifunctional joint urban test beds intended to provide services and data to model 

developers, test and evaluation personnel, and other users and stakeholders. The operational concept 

document includes capabilities and benefits, management structure, infrastructure requirements, selection 

process, implementation framework, definitions, and characteristics of urban scales. For Fiscal Year (FY) 

2011, the goals of the JAG/JUTB are to finalize criteria for establishing urban test beds and establish a 

JUTB Prototype Model Site in National Capital Region. [OFCM 2011] 

National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) – provides tools and services to the Federal 

Government that map the probable spread of hazardous material accidentally or intentionally released into 

the atmosphere. NARAC provides atmospheric plume predictions in time for an emergency manager to 

decide if taking protective action is necessary to protect the health and safety of people in affected areas. 

Located at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NARAC is a 

national support and resource center for planning, real-time assessment, emergency response, and detailed 

tudies of incidents involving a wide variety of hazards, including nuclear, radiological, chemical, 

biological, and natural emissions [NARAC 2010a]. 

Radiation Safety Information Computational Center (RSICC), Oak Ridge National Laboratory – The 

RSICC is a Department of Energy Specialized Information Analysis Center (SIAC) authorized to collect,

analyze, maintain, and distribute computer software and data sets in the areas of radiation transport and 

safety [ORNL 2010a]. RSICC staff tests each code before its release, documents and resolves difficulties 

or problem areas, and assists users with their questions. Problems and issues that are unresolved will be 

made available to code developers to promote the improvements in new code releases. RSICC maintains a 

database of issues and fixes for code installation, verification, and use. New versions of codes sent to 

customers are ‘recycled’ to RSICC for further dissemination, thereby increasing the value-added of codes 

in a cost efficient manner. 
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Research Applications Laboratory (RAL), National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) – National 

Security Applications Program at RAL has grown to include a combination of DOD, foreign, and private–

industry projects. RAL’s objective is to improve meteorological support of homeland security needs 

through the use of new capabilities in high–resolution mesoscale modeling, short–term thunderstorm 

prediction, multi–dimensional integrated displays, numerical weather prediction and fine–scale regional 

and global climatology prediction. New technologies are in operational use at U.S. Army Test and 

Evaluation Command’s (ATEC’s) ranges and are being implemented in Washington, DC at the Pentagon, 

originally sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and later adopted by 

the Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA). The projects involving modeling plumes of hazardous 

materials include: sensor data fusion, Salt Lake City Olympics, Urban Shield, Joint Urban 2003, and 

bioaerosol study [UCAR 2010]. 

Wind Engineering and Fluids Laboratory (WEFL), Colorado State University – The lab focuses on 

determination and mitigation of wind effects on buildings and structures, dispersion of pollutants, and 

experiments using boundary-layer wind tunnels. The core of the WEFL is three large boundary-layer wind 

tunnels. Research is carried out in cooperation with faculty and students from various departments at

Colorado State University and other institutions in the U.S. and abroad. Staff of the WEFL also is 

involved in wind engineering service. Facilities and technical personnel are available to researchers and 

practitioners not affiliated with the WEFL [ColoState 2008]. 

HMR Relevant Project Reports/ Documents: 

• Emergency Response Guidebook (Orange Book; [DOT2008]): The Emergency Response 

Guidebook (ERG2008) was developed jointly by the US Department of Transportation, Transport 

Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico (SCT) for use by 

firefighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive at the 

scene of a transportation incident involving a hazardous material. It is primarily a guide to aid first 

responders in (1) quickly identifying the specific or generic classification of the material(s) 

involved in the incident, and (2) protecting themselves and the general public during this initial 

response phase of the incident. The ERG is updated every three to four years to accommodate new 

products and technology. The next version is scheduled for 2012. 

• Tracking and Predicting the Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous Material Releases [NRC 

2003]: This is a report of a workshop by the same name. The workshop concluded that 

atmospheric observational and modeling tools can contribute substantially to preparation and 

planning for possible future events involving release of hazardous materials, to emergency 

response in the minutes to hours after such an event, and to the recovery and analysis following 

such events. The report discusses user needs, ways to enhance observational resources, 

strengthening modeling capabilities and applications to emergency response. 

• Successful Response Starts with a Map: Improving Geospatial Support for Disaster Management

[NRC 2007a]: This report is about the use of geospatial data for incident management. Despite 

the technological advances in geospatial data and related technology, it has seen limited use in 

incident management. The report identifies the factors that have inhibited such use and provides 

recommendations for addressing them. 

• Federal R&D Needs and Priorities for Atmospheric Transport & Diffusion [OFCM 2004]: The 

report provides a comprehensive view of federal capability to provide atmospheric transport & 

diffusion modeling support. It discusses user needs and recommends strategies to address those 

needs. 

• Integrated Chemical and Biological Defense Program Research, Development and Acquisition 

Plan for the Departments of Defense and Energy: Bio Point Detection [DoD 2003]: The report 

provides a technology area focused roadmap for chemical and biological defense (CBD) research 
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development and acquisition (RDA). This report is the third one in a series of report and is 

relevant since it added modeling and simulation roadmap to the areas covered. Appendix C of the 

document reports on acquisition and transition activities involving information system and 

includes information on a number of M&S tools. 

• IMAAC Interagency VV&A Workshop Report [HSI 2009]: The workshop's objectives included 

informing the development of the IMAAC VV&A process, addressing the technical aspects, and 

including specific consideration of the needs of stakeholders in the VV&A process. It presents a 

simple VV&A process arrived at with the purpose of being achievable, appropriate, and 

understandable. 

B.2 – CI Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities 

A number of projects have been initiated to address CI M&S issues. Although some have been sponsored 

by DHS, there have been others conducted by outside organizations both within and outside of the U.S. A 

representative list of projects follows: 

Canada’s Public Security Technical Program CIP Projects: The M&S of elements of Canada’s critical 

infrastructure—and particularly the area of dependencies and interdependencies between sectors and subsectors—is developing as a unique, horizontal CI research area with opportunities to support all CI sectors. 

Two ongoing projects are: PSTP Study 08-0120CI (2009 to 2010) – Conducting a HAZMAT scenariobased live simulation of telecommunication CI business continuity capability that will include the 

development and validation of “as-is” and “to-be” models (using an established architecture framework); 

PSTP Study 08-100CI (2009 to 2010) –Integrated Evaluation of Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies

for Major Event Planning, using M&S technologies [DRDC 2009]. 

Chemical Sector Supply Chain and Economics Project: This project is a key component of a larger effort

to deliver Enabling Homeland Security Capabilities (EHCs) for the Modeling, Mapping, and Simulation 

program. The first goal of this project is to populate a detailed data set of the chemical and petrochemical 

manufacturing, supply and distribution components that comprise the chemical infrastructure supply chain. 

The second goal is to develop a means to mathematically analyze not only the consequence of significant 

threats, but also the resiliency of the supply chain to recover from these impacts [DHS 2011a]. 

Complex Event Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (CEMSA) Project: This project focuses on 

interdependencies, cascading effects, and the dynamics of multi-event and multi-vector attacks. This effort 

will provide significant improvements in timelines, quality and usability of information to provide decision 

makers up-to-date information to make informed decisions during an event. The program will leverage the 

capabilities developed for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System (CIPDSS) and

sector-specific modeling, simulation and analysis (MSA). The project is within the Infrastructure 

Protection Thrust Area and the Modeling, Simulation and Analysis Program of the Infrastructure and 

Geophysical Division [DHS 2009b]. (Also included in section B.3 Incident Management Projects, 

Facilities, and Capabilities) 

Critical Infrastructure Test Range Complex (CITRC): CITRC at Idaho National Laboratory is a national, 

comprehensive program that researches, develops, and tests technologies, systems, and policies to protect 

the Nation’s infrastructure. CITRC is comprised of the sites formerly occupied by the Auxiliary 

(originally Army) Reactor Area (ARA) and the Power Burst Facility (PBF), later part of the Waste 

Reduction Operations Complex (WROC). The remainder of INL land not occupied by facilities is 

designated part of the site-wide critical infrastructure test range (CITR), and serves as a real-world natural 

laboratory. CITR has industrial-scale infrastructure components, including an isolatable full-scale electric 

power grid with a 61-mile transmission loop, seven independent substations, and a control room for 

conducting comprehensive interoperability, vulnerability and risk assessments [INL 2008]. 
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Design of an Interoperable European federated Simulation network for critical InfraStructures (DIESIS): 

This project proposes to establish the basis for a European modeling and simulation e-Infrastructure based 

upon open standards to foster and support research on all aspects of critical infrastructures with a specific 

focus on their protection. This European e-Infrastructure will support full cooperation of the different 

partners in charge for studying (inter)dependencies of critical infrastructures, while preserving the 

confidentiality of the proprietary knowledge embedded into the different models and simulation packages. 

The project aims to address the following: availability of models and data for single infrastructures,

interoperable simulation of multiple infrastructures, and testbeds and benchmarks for protection solutions 

[DIESIS 2011]. 

Disaster-Resilient Structures and Communities Programs and Projects: These programs and projects at 

the Engineering Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology contribute to the goal of 

developing the technical basis for the standards, technology, and practices needed for cost-effective 

improvements to the safety and security of buildings and building occupants, including evacuation, 

emergency response procedures, and threat mitigation. The disaster resilience of structures and 

communities is determined by building codes, standards, and practices used when structures were built—

most older structures have only minimal resilience. Most codes, standards, and practices are highly 

prescriptive, simplified, and inconsistent with respect to risk—stifling innovation and increasing cost. This 

program fulfills a national knowledge transfer role that is not well-supported by a fragmented U.S. 

construction industry and helps NIST its specific statutory responsibilities including: the Fire Prevention 

and Control Act (1974); the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Reauthorization Act (1977, 

amended 2004); the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act (2004); and the National Construction 

Safety Team Act (2002). [NIST 2011]

FLOODsite Project: This project was carried out under the European Community’s Sixth Framework 

Programme and focused on identifying advantages and disadvantages of existing tools for long-term flood 

risk management and derived concrete demands for future development. The project identified 19 tools 

and conducted an in-depth evaluation on them. The tools considered were predominately developed in 

Germany, The Netherlands, and United Kingdom and included: Planning Kit, Water Manager, IRMASponge Large Rivers, IVB-DOS, STORM Rhine, MDSF, EUROTAS, Flood Ranger, DESIMA, NaFRA, 

PAMS, HzG, DSS-Havel, WRBM-DSS, Elbe-DSS, INFORM 2.0/DSS, RISK/RISC, FLIWAS, and 

FLUMAGIS. Four other tools – RAMFLOOD, ANFAS, MIKE 11 DSS, and EFAS are also briefly 

described. [Schanze 2007] 

Group Model Building for Critical Infrastructure Simulation: A group of researchers from Europe and the 

U.S. are utilizing group model building workshops to develop systems dynamics models of critical 

infrastructure. In initial reported effort Group Model Building (GMB) and system dynamics were used to 

develop plausible scenarios for a CI & Information Technology (IT) crisis with cross-border effects. 

Expert consensus was achieved about the crisis causal structure “driving” the event into a cross-border 

crisis. The model showed the negative effects of uncoordinated single country action on crisis perception 

and resource misallocation, in turn escalating crisis duration and severity. It is particularly severe if the 

crisis is exacerbated by IT failures [Sveen 2010]. 

Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC): HITRAC is the infrastructureintelligence fusion center for DHS and incorporates analysts from the Office of Infrastructure Protection 

and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis. HITRAC creates actionable risk-informed analysis for 

federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, private sector, and international partners. The analyses include: 

critical infrastructure, regional, and cyber threat analysis, critical infrastructure prioritization, analytic 

support to state and local partners, and infrastructure modeling and simulation. The risk-informed analytic 

products are intended to provide decisionmakers charged with protecting critical infrastructure and key 
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resources with a common understanding of the risks facing the country. The center also provides the tools, 

methodologies, and approaches to translate that shared understanding into actionable risk mitigation 

strategies. [DHS 2011d] 

Modeling & Simulation Capability for Resource Consumption and Consequence Management: The 

Modeling & Simulation Capability for Consequence Management prototype allows emergency planners to 

design and run dynamic, time aware, GIS based “what-if” gaming simulations depicting the impacts upon 

critical infrastructure and resource consumption during a large-scale mass evacuation from the National 

Capital Region to a host-State. The capability enables emergency planners to run multiple iterations of a 

simulated event with different resource allocations including the ability to activate and deactivate shelters, 

place barriers, and enforce fuel rationing. The prototype is being developed for the All Hazards 

Consortium Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (FEMA Region 3) focusing on the eastern 

panhandle of West Virginia; however the simulation logic is being designed for extensibility to encompass 

all state-wide counties, neighboring states and geographical regions/districts. [Baker 2011]

Modeling Delay Tolerant Networking following Communication Infrastructure Disruption in a Disaster: 

Delay Tolerant Networking (DTN) is needed for communications following disruptions in 

communications infrastructure in a disaster. In a disaster scenario people with hand-held wireless devices 

(e.g., cell phone, PDA, even laptops), houses with WiFi routers and automobiles with radios can be 

connected in an effective way using DTN devices to form a functional communication network. This 

project is developing a mobility model that includes the impact of the disaster on the transportation 

network, and that models population and relief vehicle movement. The researchers are augmenting the 

“Opportunistic Network Environment” (ONE) simulator of DTNs with required extensions for the purpose 

[Uddin 2009]. 

National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC): NISAC is a modeling, simulation, and 

analysis program within DHS comprising personnel in the Washington, D.C., area as well as from Sandia 

National Laboratories (Sandia) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). A facility dedicated to 

NISAC is located at Sandia Albuquerque. Congress mandated that NISAC serve as a “source of national 

expertise to address critical infrastructure protection” research and analysis. NISAC prepares and shares 

analyses of critical infrastructure and key resources (CIKR), including their interdependencies, 

vulnerabilities, consequences, and other complexities. Its mission is to improve the robustness of the 

Nation’s critical infrastructures by providing an advanced modeling and simulation capability that will 

enable an understanding of how the infrastructure operates; help identify vulnerabilities; determine the 

consequences of infrastructure outages; and optimize protection and mitigation strategies. NISAC’s 

objectives are to leverage the existing capabilities of the NISAC partners to provide leadership in critical 

infrastructure interdependencies modeling, simulation, and analysis [NISAC 2011a]. 

Particle Dynamic Simulation for Critical Infrastructure Protection: The project utilizes particle modeling 

for the simulation of dynamic fracture phenomena in homogeneous and heterogeneous materials such as 

encountered in blasts on a concrete wall. Particle modeling is a dynamic simulation method that typically 

uses a lattice of small (but not molecular level) particles, evolving according to laws of mechanics, as a 

discrete representation of fluids and/or solids. The analysis will be used to establish design requirements 

for nanoparticle reinforcement of concrete structural components to meet severe loading (i.e., blast and 

seismic) demands [SERRI 2007]. 

Virtual USA – A DHS program, called Virtual USA, will enable first responders nationwide to link 

disparate tools and technologies in order to share the location and status of critical assets and information. 

These may include power and water lines, flood detectors, helicopter-capable landing sites, emergency 

vehicle and ambulance locations, weather and traffic conditions, evacuation routes, and school and 

government building floor plans [Boyd 2009]. 
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Wide Area Recovery & Resiliency Program (WARRP): This program will leverage existing applied 

technologies and solutions developed; formalize long term working relationships among DHS, EPA, HHS, 

DoD, State, regional and local stakeholders; establish the body of knowledge to support operational 

planning; and document approaches to reduce the time and resources required to recover and re‐occupy 

wide urban areas, military installations, and other critical infrastructure following a catastrophic chemical, 

biological, or radiological incident. In addition to overall recovery of wide urban areas, emphasis will be 

placed on community resiliency and how, at the local level, communities and local officials are better

prepared to manage a large scale incident and re‐establish economic, environmental and social 

functionality within the Denver urban area. [WAARP 2011] 

CIKR Relevant Project Reports: 

• Highway Evacuations in Selected Metropolitan Areas: Assessment of Impediments [DoT 2010a]: 

This report was developed in response to a request from U.S. Congress. It provides an assessment 

of mass evacuation plans for 26 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and identifies and prioritizes 

deficiencies on those routes that could impede evacuations. It also provides results of an analysis 

of how national highway system (NHS) projects under construction west of the National Capital 

Region (NCR) could increase the NCR’s evacuation capacity and a detailed plan to accelerate such 

projects. 

• Verification and Validation of Selected Fire Models for Nuclear Power Plant Applications [NRC 

2007b]: This report documents the verification and validation (V&V) of five fire models that are 

commonly used in nuclear power plant applications. The results of this V&V are reported in the 

form of ranges of accuracies for the fire model predictions. 

B.3 – IM Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities 

A number of projects have been initiated to address incident management M&S issues, although some 

have been sponsored by DHS, there have been others conducted by outside organizations both within and 

outside of the U.S. A preliminary list of projects follows: 

Complex Event Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis Project: This project focuses on interdependencies, 

cascading effects, and the dynamics of multi-event and multi-vector attacks. This effort will provide 

significant improvements in timelines, quality and usability of information to provide decision makers upto-date information to make informed decisions during an event. The program will leverage the 

capabilities developed for the Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System (CIPDSS) and

sector-specific modeling, simulation and analysis (MSA). The project is within the Infrastructure 

Protection Thrust Area and the Modeling, Simulation and Analysis Program of the Infrastructure and 

Geophysical Division [DHS 2009b]. (Also included in section B.2 CIKR Projects, Facilities, and 

Capabilities) 

Emergency Operations Training Center (EOTC), Texas Engineering Extension Service: Located in 

College Station, Texas, the center is a state-of-the-art emergency management and incident command 
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training facility operated by the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center, a division of 

the Texas Engineering Extension Service. The EOTC's goal is to provide participants (including 

government agencies, corporate industrial teams, and jurisdictions from across the Nation) the skills they 

need to respond to, manage, and recover from large-scale incidents. The EOTC provides a wide spectrum

of possible operations, ranging from the incident command post perspective to the emergency operations

center and multi-agency coordination viewpoint at the local, regional or state levels. The overall incident 

management structure used in the EOTC replicates the Incident Command System and follows the NIMS 

as required in the NRF. The 32,000-square-foot EOTC uses state-of-the-art simulation and computerbased technologies to train incident managers, supervisors, and jurisdiction officials in the management of 

a large-scale crisis using a unified command approach, which can be tailored to any group [TEEX 2010]. 

Incident Management Simulation Laboratory (Simlab), U.S. Fire Administration, Emmitsburg, MD: The 

laboratory is configured to afford candidates "real-world" training in a variety of emergency situations 

encompassing incidents such as dwelling fires, commercial and large structure fires, catastrophic disasters 

and major emergency events, such as hazardous materials releases and mass casualty incidents. 3D 

computer models are used to provide visual clues, which are generated through the use of commercial offthe-shelf special effects, graphics, and animation software, and controlled through a standard personal 

computer by menu driven software. The goal of the simulation training is to provide the student with a 

variety of visual and auditory cues that will enhance the decision-making process in practical situations. 

This training provides realistic experience in the application of the principles of the NIMS and 

conversancy with the recognition primed decision-making model of higher order cue-based decisionmaking [USFA 2010c]. 

Integrated Modeling, Mapping, and Simulation (IMMS) program and Standard Unified Modeling and 

Mapping Integration Toolkit (SUMMIT): The IMMS program is designing and prototyping a simulation 

and collaboration environment for linking together existing and future modeling and simulation tools to 

enable analysts, emergency planners, and incident managers to more effectively, economically, and rapidly 

prepare, analyze, train, and respond to real or potential incidents. When complete, the IMMS program will 

demonstrate an integrated modeling and simulation capability that supports emergency managers and 

responders with 1) conducting “what-if” analyses and exercises to address preparedness, analysis, training, 

operations, and lessons learned, and 2) effectively, economically, and rapidly verifying response tactics, 

plans and procedures. IMMS program is developing the Standard Unified Modeling and Mapping 

Integration Toolkit (SUMMIT), a software framework for rapidly linking together these resources, and 

supporting collaboration across user communities. SUMMIT will enable discovery and exploitation of 

models, simulations, data, and archived analyses that are relevant to a specific scenario or event of interest 

and bringing together users and modeling resources from many locations while ensuring that access to 

existing data and models is controlled by the resource owners [DHS 2010d]. 

National Exercise Simulation Center, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): The National 

Exercise Simulation Center (NESC) is a Congressionally-mandated state-of-the-art training and exercise

facility within FEMA Headquarters, and serves as a key element within the Federal Coordination Center 

(FCC). The FCC draws on the specialized capabilities of its FEMA elements, including the Disaster 

Operations Directorate, the National Preparedness Directorate, the Office of National Capital Region 

Coordination, and others as needed, to collaborate with and support deliberate planning, training, exercises 

and response operations coordination [FEMA 2010h]. The NESC is focused on utilizing decision support 

simulation to increase exercise realism and immersion in lifelike scenarios. It integrates Human Based 

Simulations (actors) and Computer Based Simulations for the purpose [Holtermann 2010]. 

Simulation Based Incident Planning and Response project: This project provides FEMA analysts, decision 

makers, policy makers as well as emergency managers, and operators an integrated modeling and 

simulation capability to effectively, economically, and rapidly verify and validate response tactics, plans 
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and procedures and to conduct "what-if" type analyses prior to an incident (preparedness, analysis, 

training) and during/after an incident (operational, lessons learned) [DHS 2009b]. 

Security and Incident Modeling Lab (SIMLAB), U.S. Secret Service: SIMLAB uses MS&A assets and 

technologies to develop simulated training exercises for the Service's protective detail teams, tactical 

response units and counter-surveillance units. SIMLAB also employs modeling and simulation for 

planning and analysis. These projects are typically for prototyping emergency preparedness strategies,

defensive and counter-measure analyses, vulnerability and risk assessments, resource threshold studies and 

many other contingency examinations [U.S. Army 2007]. 

Training, Exercise & Lessons Learned (TELL) project: The TELL project is developing a federated 

simulation-based training and exercise capability that uses advanced computer models and will allow 

responders at all levels to affordably train and exercise for large and complex events in a 

virtual/constructive/live environment. TELL will link multiple agencies, functions, and jurisdictions to 

improve preparedness and decision-making for emergency responders and managers. TELL incorporates 

training objectives, scenarios, and metrics defined by other programs, and the capability to capture lessons 

learned to improve future emergency response capabilities [DHS 2009b]. 

IM Relevant Project Reports/ Documents: 

• Emergency Response Guidebook (Orange Book; [DOT2008]) – Please see B.1 for a brief 

description of this document. 

• Computer Simulation for Emergency Incident Management: Report of the Department of 

Homeland Security Incident Management Simulation Workshop [LLNL 2004]: This workshop 

report captures joint input from senior representatives of the emergency response and incidentmanagement communities and the M&S technologists from Department of Energy laboratories. It 

includes a summary of simulation capabilities that are relevant to incident-management training, 

recommendations for the use of simulation in both incident management and associated training, 

and future R&D needs. 

B.4 – HS Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities 

The term “simulation” is used to include a wide variety of modalities in healthcare area. The Center for 

Immersive and Simulation-based Learning (CISL) at Stanford School of Medicine [Stanford 2010] defines 

the following simulation modalities in the healthcare context: standardized patient actors, part-task 

physical trainers, virtual reality and visualization, desktop simulation and virtual worlds, and mannequinbased simulation. M&S, the focus of this report, has been defined to focus on computer based simulation 

and hence aligns primarily with the desktop simulation and virtual worlds and overlaps somewhat with the 

virtual reality and visualization modalities in CISL list. 

A number of projects and facilities focus on healthcare simulation. However a majority of them focus on 

standardized patient actors, part-task physical trainers, and mannequin-based simulation. A preliminary 

list of projects, facilities, and capabilities that include the categories of our interest, i.e., desktop simulation 

and virtual worlds, and virtual reality and visualization, is provided below. 

Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) – CIMIT focuses on health care 

technologies, providing the resources and infrastructure to address technology application issues at the 

national and international level. CIMIT acts as a bridge between individual investigators and 

implementation of their ideas. It connects the investigators with a team of experts, and provides a 

nurturing collaborative environment to help the idea grow towards multiple uses, multiple partners, and 

multiple programs to address complex patient care problems. The work of simulation group at CIMIT 
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includes building desktop simulation tools such as the Real-time Incident Preparedness Simulation (RIPS) 

[CIMIT 2010]. 

Complex Incident Response Training System (CIRTS)-Combat Medics (CM) project – MYMIC LLC is 

developing CIRTS-CM under a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II contract award in early 

December 2009. CIRTS-CM is a simulation game based training system for scene and patient management 

care following blast injuries sustained from explosives including Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). 

Eventually, CIRTS-CM support will expand to other medical domains, such as training combat lifesavers,

individual soldiers and marines, military combat support hospitals, civilian emergency medical 

technicians, other emergency first responders and incidents other than IEDs [MYMIC 2010a]. 

Medical Emergencies Simulation Lab, Institute for Simulation and Training, University of Central Florida 

– The lab builds on simulators developed by others to create sophisticated medical simulation capabilities 

that can enhance military, civil defense, and crisis management training. For example, the lab developed 

HLA-compliant software packages that allow simulated casualties generated during combat exercises to 

queue up for treatment by combat medics using a human patient simulator. The playing-field-toemergency treatment model also has been used to train EMTs in civilian mass casualty exercises [IST 

2009]. 

NIH Center for Biomedical Computation at Stanford (Simbios) – Simbios is the NIH Center for physicsbased Simulation of Biological Structures. Simbios provides infrastructure, software, and training to help 

biomedical researchers understand biological form and function as they create novel drugs, synthetic 

tissues, medical devices, and surgical interventions. Simbios is investigating a wide scale of biological 

structures – from molecules to organisms. Driving biological problems include RNA folding, protein 

folding, myosin dynamics, cardiovascular dynamics, and neuromuscular biomechanics. Simbios is 

developing and disseminating the SimTK core simulation toolkit, an open-source software that includes 

capabilities for modeling the geometry and physics of biological systems. To ensure utility and accuracy, 

the software and training material is being developed and tested in close collaboration with biomedical 

scientists. Simbios has developed OpenSim, an application for advanced neuromuscular modeling that uses 

the SimTK toolkit, and is making it openly available [SIMBIOS 2010]. 

National Capital Area Medical Simulation Center – The SimCenter is part of the Uniformed Services 

University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) located in the Forest Glen Annex Silver Spring, Maryland. It 

has facilities for simulating medical procedures that are high risk or high consequence for patient safety. 

The simulations allow healthcare personnel develop and maintain the cognitive and psychomotor skills 

necessary to perform medical tasks safely and effectively. The Virtual Medical Environment Lab at the

center includes surgical, emergency room and field hospital simulations, medical gaming as well as largescale simulations designed to train medical teams in battlefield and natural-disaster scenarios [USU 2010]. 

National Center for Collaboration in Medical Modeling and Simulation – The NCCMMS is a joint project 

of Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and Old Dominion University (ODU) and a variety of 

academic, governmental and commercial partners. Its mission is to improve both the quality and quantity 

of medical care available to U.S. military forces. This is accomplished by providing a collaborative 

environment where basic and applied medical modeling and simulation research can be undertaken by 

EVMS and ODU researchers within the context of a comprehensive academic medical center that provides 

a convenient clinical test bed for new technologies and approaches. The center has access to the expertise 

of the large U.S. military medical community as represented by the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, the 

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and other military medical facilities. Projects at 

NCMMS include homeland security, emergency training and response, and gaming simulations [EVMS 

2009]. 
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Research Into Global Healthcare Tools (RIGHT) – The RIGHT project is being carried out by a 

consortium in the United Kingdom that is led Brunel University and involves several universities as core 

partners, government organizations, and private companies. The project aims to employ modeling and 

simulation methods for healthcare service planning. The aim is to achieve similar kind of performance

gain as have been achieved in other sectors, such as industry & manufacturing, aerospace and the military 

through the use of M&S. 
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Appendix C – Simulation Models and Tools 

C.1 – Hazardous Material Release M&S Tools 

A large number of dispersion modeling tools have been created or are used by a number of federal 

agencies, universities, research organizations, and commercial companies. A survey [Mazzola 1995] in 

the mid-90s listed 94 such tools while another survey [OFCM 2010a] in the late 90s listed 63 of them. A 

number of reports in the past have also included information on HMR M&S tools. These include: 

• Tracking and Predicting the Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous Material Releases [NRC 2003], 

• Federal R&D Needs and Priorities for Atmospheric Transport & Diffusion [OFCM 2004], and 

• Integrated Chemical and Biological Defense Program Research, Development and Acquisition 

Plan for the Departments of Defense and Energy: Bio Point Detection [DoD 2003]. 

This section lists some of the better-known tools as indicated by Internet searches. The tools are arranged 

alphabetically based on their acronyms. 

Tool Acronym Brief Description 

A2C A2C integrates mesoscale modeling and computational fluid dynamics modeling 

(CFD) into a single model. It can be used to model: air flows over complex terrain, air 

flows around buildings with diurnal variations of weather conditions, recirculation 

flow, separation streamline, and reattachment points on a building, and transport and 

diffusion of airborne particles and pollutants [YSASoft 2010]. 

ADAM Air Force Dispersion Assessment Model (ADAM) is a modified box and Gaussian 

dispersion model that incorporates thermodynamics, chemistry, heat transfer, aerosol 

loading, and dense gas effects. Release scenarios include continuous and 

instantaneous area and point, pressurized and unpressurized, and liquid/vapor/twophased options [EPA 2010c]. 

ADMS-Fire ADMS-Fire is a model of dispersion and deposition from fires. It uses the ADMS 

(Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling System) dispersion model coupled with a fire 

source model to predict dispersion and deposition of contaminants. The types of 

incidents modeled by ADMS-Fire are tire and other scrap fires on open sites. The 

contaminants of concern are those that could potentially have a food safety impact, 

namely PAHs, dioxins/furans and heavy metals. It can calculate the dispersion and 

deposition of these or any other contaminants for which emission data are available 

[CERC 2010]. 

ADMSSTAR ADMSSTAR is a model for the analysis of Short-Term Accidental Releases based on 

the ADMS methodology, developed specifically to estimate air concentration and 

deposition rate for radiological or chemical emissions to the atmosphere. It can be 

used either in situations where the source details are known or it can perform a back 

calculation and estimate the source strength based on sample data. ADMSSTAR may 

be linked with ESRI’s ArcGIS (Geographical Information System) and used to 

display contours of concentration and/or deposition overlaid on a map of the area 

where the incident occurred [CERC 2010]. 
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AFTOX AFTOX is a Gaussian dispersion model that will handle continuous or instantaneous 

liquid, gas, elevated or surface releases from point or area sources. Output consists of 

concentration contour plots, concentration at a specified location, and maximum 

concentration at a given elevation and time [EPA 2010c]. 

ALOHA Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA) is an atmospheric dispersion 

model used for evaluating releases of hazardous chemical vapors. ALOHA allows the 

user to estimate the downwind dispersion of a chemical cloud based on the 

toxicological/physical characteristics of the released chemical, atmospheric 

conditions, and specific circumstances of the release. It is part of NOAA and EPA’s 

Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) suite of tools 

[EPA 2010b]. 

AMET The Atmospheric Model Evaluation Tool (AMET) was developed to aid in the 

evaluation of meteorological and air quality simulations [EPA 2010a]. AMET utilizes 

an open source relational database program and an open source statistical program to 

store and analyze model predictions against observations. AMET is currently script 

based, and includes numerous scripts for performing common analysis such as scatter 

plots, box plots, spatial and time series plots, and output of many different statistics. 

AMET is available for download from the Community Modeling and Analysis 

System web site [CMAS 2010]. 

ANSYS ANSYS Multiphysics simulation solutions allow engineers and designers to create 

virtual prototypes of structures operating under real-world multiphysics conditions. It 

enables simulation of the interactions between structural mechanics, heat transfer, 

fluid flow and electromagnetics within a single, unified engineering simulation 

environment. It allows prediction of forces, stresses, and thermal and catastrophic 

effects. The software is ISO-9001 certified and has NQA-1 quality classification for 

use in nuclear structural analysis. [ANSYS 2011] 

ASPEN The Assessment System for Population Exposure Nationwide (ASPEN) consists of a 

dispersion and a mapping module. The dispersion module is a Gaussian formulation 

based on ISCST3 for estimating ambient annual average concentrations at a set of 

fixed receptors within the vicinity of the emission source. The mapping module 

produces a concentration at each census tract. Input data needed are emissions data, 

meteorological data and census tract data [EPA 2010c]. 

BERT The Bio-agent Event Reconstruction Tool (BERT) is used to estimate the magnitude 

and extent of an airborne biological release based on measurements from wind 

sensors and biological agent sensors distributed around a city. BERT is used to find 

potential release areas and eliminate others, and if possible to put upper and lower 

limits on the amount of material that could have been released. The tool can then be 

used to predict the potential downwind hazard areas, to compute the total number of 

persons at risk, and to locate hospitals, school, police stations, fire stations and other 

infrastructure that might be impacted by the release [Zajic 2010]. 

BioDAC BioDAC (an abbreviation for the Weapons of Mass Destruction Decision Analysis 

Center [WMD-DAC] Biological Defense Application) is a component of the WMDDAC suite of simulation components. BioDAC is used to simulate the release of 

biological agents and evaluate the efficacy of a large set of response strategies. Three 
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primary roles exist in a BioDAC simulation—Public Health Official (PHO), Navy 

Official (NO), and Analyst. BioDAC is designed for use in simulator-based exercises 

involving officials from various interested military and governmental agencies 

[Linebarger 2007]. 

BROOM Building Restoration Operations Optimization Model (BROOM) is a handheld, 

software-based restoration and decontamination tool that contains building maps and 

other information to simplify tracking and sample collection in a contaminated area. 

Surface sampling results transmitted to Sandia’s BIRC (see section 6.1) can be input 

into BROOM, an approach that leads to more accurate contamination maps and more 

certain predictions [Sandia 2008]. 

CFAST The Consolidated Model of Fire and Smoke Transport, CFAST, is a computer 

program that fire investigators, safety officials, engineers, architects and builders can 

use to simulate the impact of past or potential fires and smoke in a specific building 

environment. CFAST is a two-zone fire model used to calculate the evolving 

distribution of smoke, fire gases, and temperature throughout compartments of a 

building during a fire. These can range from very small containment vessels, on the 

order of 1 m3

 to large spaces on the order of 1,000 m3. A visualization program, 

Smokeview (SMV), is available to display the output of CFAST simulations [NIST 

2009]. 

COAMPS The Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) can be 

used for short-term numerical weather prediction for various regions. The 

atmospheric portion of COAMPS represents a complete three-dimensional data 

assimilation system comprised of data quality control, analysis, initialization, and 

forecast model components. Features include a globally relocatable grid, user-defined 

grid resolutions and dimensions, nested grids, an option for idealized or real-time 

simulations, and code that allows for portability between mainframes and 

workstations. Model applications include dust forecast, cloud and fog forecast, landsurface and urban effects, and chemical/biological agent transport and dispersion 

[NRL 2010a]. 

COMIS Conjunction Of Multizone Infiltration Specialists (COMIS) models the air flow and 

contaminant distributions in buildings. The program can simulate several key 

components influencing air flow: cracks, ducts, duct fittings, fans, flow controllers, 

vertical large openings (windows and/or doors), kitchen hoods, passive stacks, and 

“user-defined components.” COMIS allows the user to define schedules describing 

changes in the indoor temperature distribution, fan operation, pollutant concentration 

in the zones, pollutant sources and sinks, opening of windows and doors, and the 

weather data. The flexible time step implemented in COMIS enables the modeling of 

events independent of the frequency with which the weather data are provided [LBNL 

2010b]. 

COMIS 

Integrated 

Models 

COMIS has been integrated with outdoor and other indoor modeling tools and 

techniques [LBNL 2010c]. These include: 

• Residential models in NARAC – Combines NARAC’s models for outdoor plumes 

with “box” model of houses to predict indoor-outdoor exchange. 

• COMIS in HPAC – Combines HPAC for outdoor plumes with COMIS to 

determine indoor exposure to outdoor plumes. 
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• Building Interior and Exfiltration (BINEX) – includes two models for building 

airflow, COMIS ported by LBNL to HPAC, and an interior model from Science 

Applications International Corporation (SAIC). 

• CFD in COMIS – combines COMIS with a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) 

capability to study exposure in large, poorly mixed spaces such as auditoriums or 

conference halls. 

CONTAM CONTAM is a multi-zone indoor air quality and ventilation analysis computer 

program designed to help determine airflows, contaminant concentrations, and 

personal exposure. Predicted contaminant concentrations can also be used to estimate 

personal exposure based on occupancy patterns in the building being studied. 

Exposure estimates can be compared for different assumptions of ventilation rates and 

source strengths [NIST 2008]. 

CT-Analyst The Contaminant Transport Analyst, or CT-Analyst is an instant-response software 

tool developed at the Naval Research Laboratory that can help cities respond quickly 

and efficiently to the release of a chemical, biological, or radioactive threat. It 

combines detailed 3D modeling of the city with an understanding of how airflow 

carries contaminants through its streets and provides first responders with the 

information they need to make effective decisions [NRL 2010b]. 

EPIcode The Emergency Prediction Information code is a commercially available computer 

code for modeling routine or accidental releases of hazardous chemicals to the 

environment. It is reported to be routinely used for NEPA calculations within the 

Department of Energy system, as well as emergency response centers. It is a 

commercial product from Homann Associates, Inc. [EPIcode 2010]. 

FDS Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of 

fire-driven fluid flow. The software solves numerically a form of the Navier-Stokes 

equations appropriate for low-speed, thermally-driven flow, with an emphasis on 

smoke and heat transport from fires. A visualization program, Smokeview (SMV), is 

available to display the output of FDS simulations [NIST 2010b]. 

FEM3MP FEM3MP is a finite element model based massively parallel code that generates 

accurate predictions of wind fields and dispersed concentrations. It has been 

developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) over the past two 

decades. It has both Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Large Eddy 

Simulation (LES) turbulence models. The code has been extensively tested against 

data obtained from wind-tunnel and field experiments, such as Urban 2000 in Salt 

Lake City, Utah, and Joint Urban 2003 in Oklahoma City [LLNL 2001]. 

FLUENT FLUENT is a computation fluid dynamics (CFD) tool that has been used for gas 

dispersion analysis and hazard assessments. It uses an unstructured grid to represent 

complex shapes together with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Detached Eddy 

Simulation (DES) turbulence models. It is a commercial tool available through 

ANSYS [ANSYS 2010]. 

GASTAR GASTAR is a dense gas dispersion model suited to modeling accident and emergency 

response scenarios or investigating site safety involving releases of flammable and/or 

toxic materials from a variety of industrial accidents such as cryogenic spills, 
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catastrophic tank failure, pipe fractures, and multi-phase jets. It is used for risk 

assessment, land-use planning, emergency response planning, and management and 

training [CERC 2010]. 

HOTSPOT HOTSPOT is a fast-running local-scale steady-state Gaussian plume model for 

radiological releases developed at LLNL. This model is fast and simple, requiring a 

minimum amount of input data. It can provide initial predictions of the timeintegrated effect (such as dosage from the entire plume passage). It can be used to 

make initial protective action recommendations, using conservative assumptions, 

before advanced model results are available [NARAC 2010c]. 

HPAC Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC) automated software system 

provides the means to accurately predict the effects of hazardous material released 

into the atmosphere and its impact on civilian and military populations. It can model 

chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents. It has been developed under the 

sponsorship of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency [ODATSD 2010]. 

HYSPLIT Hybrid Singe-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory models dispersion of 

chemical agents. It is a complete system for computing simple air parcel trajectories 

to complex dispersion and deposition simulations. The model’s default configuration 

assumes a puff distribution in the horizontal and particle dispersion in the vertical 

direction. It was developed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

[NOAA 2010a]. 

LODI Lagrangian Operational Dispersion Integrator, LODI, is an atmospheric dispersion 

model developed for operational emergency response within the U.S. Department of 

Energy’s National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) [NARAC 

2010a]. It solves the 3-D advection diffusion equation using a Lagrangian stochastic, 

Monte Carlo method which calculates possible trajectories of fluid “particles” in a 

turbulent flow [Leone 2001]. 

LSMS LSMS (Liquid Spill Modelling System) is a tool for calculating the spreading and 

vaporization of a liquid pool. Liquids such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied 

petroleum gas (LPG) and others are routinely stored at low temperatures and on their 

release to the atmosphere they boil or evaporate depending on their temperature 

relative to the ambient air. As the liquid spreads, the size of the liquid pool changes 

and the vaporization rate alters accordingly and such information is essential for 

calculating the subsequent dispersion of the cold vapor [CERC 2010]. 

JEM Joint Effects Model (JEM) is being developed by DTRA and will provide the military 

with a single validated ability to predict and track CBRN and toxic industrial 

chemicals (TIC) effects, as well as estimates of the source location and source term 

and the ability to make refined dispersion calculations. It was scheduled for full 

operation by fiscal year 2009, and the second increment of JEM, scheduled to be 

operational by fiscal year 2011, will include the ability to predict hazard areas and 

effects for urban areas [Smith 2005]. 

OBODM OBODM is intended for use in evaluating the potential air quality impacts of the open 

burning and detonation (OB/OD) of obsolete munitions and solid propellants. 

OBODM uses cloud/plume rise dispersion, and deposition algorithms taken from 
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existing models for instantaneous and quasi-continuous sources to predict the 

downwind transport and dispersion of pollutants released by OB/OD operations [EPA 

2010c]. 

QUIC Quick Urban and Industrial Complex (QUIC) dispersion modeling system produces a 

three-dimensional wind field around buildings, accounts for building-induced 

turbulence, and contains a graphic user interface for setup, running, and visualization. 

QUIC has been applied to neighborhood problems in Chicago, New York City, Salt 

Lake City, and Washington, D.C. [LANL 2010a]. 

RASCAL Radiological Assessment System for Consequence Analysis (RASCAL) was 

developed for use by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff who respond 

to power reactor accidents and other radiological emergencies. RASCAL 3.0.5 

(December 2006 release with December 2008 updates), is the latest version available. 

It evaluates releases from nuclear power plants, spent fuel storage pools and casks, 

fuel cycle facilities, and radioactive material handling facilities. RASCAL can be used 

by response personnel to conduct an independent evaluation of dose and consequence 

projections and for training and drills [ORNL 2010b]. 

RUSTIC/MESO RUSTIC/MESO is a coupled fast-CFD/Lagrangian transport and dispersion model for 

predicting airborne and deposited hazards in urban environments. The modeling 

system consists of a fast running urban wind flow code, Realistic Urban Spread and 

Transport of Intrusive Contaminants (RUSTIC), that is coupled with a Lagrangian 

particle advection and diffusion code (MESO – Mesoscale Atmospheric Transport 

and Diffusion Code). The design of both codes is such that the computational speed 

can be moderated with input parameters that determine the degree of accuracy and/or 

quickness of the solution [Roney 2010]. 

SCIPUFF Second-order Closure Integrated PUFF Model (SCIPUFF) is a Lagrangian puff 

dispersion model that uses a collection of Gaussian puffs to predict three-dimensional, 

time-dependent pollutant concentrations. In addition to the average concentration 

value, SCIPUFF provides a prediction of the statistical variance in the concentration 

field resulting from the random fluctuations in the wind field [EPA 2010c]. 

Turbo FRMAC Turbo Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (Turbo FRMAC 

(TF)) software automates the calculations described in volumes 1-3 of The Federal 

Manual for Assessing Environmental Data During a Radiological Emergency. This 

software automates the process of assessing radiological data during a Federal 

Radiological Emergency. The manual upon which the software is based is 

unclassified and freely available on the Internet. TF takes values generated by field 

samples or computer dispersion models and assesses the data in a way which is 

meaningful to a decision maker at a radiological emergency; such as, do radiation 

values exceed city, state, or federal limits; should the crops be destroyed or can they 

be utilized; do residents need to be evacuated, sheltered in place, or should another 

action be taken [OSTI 2010]. 

UDM Urban Dispersion Model is a component of the DTRA HPAC modeling suite. It is a 

Gaussian puff model designed to calculate the flow of dispersion around obstacles in 

an urban environment. DTRA entered into a cooperative agreement in fiscal year 

2000 with the United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and 
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Defence Research and Development Canada to develop UDM. The program’s 

objective was to enhance HPAC models in an urban domain [Neuman 2006]. 

VERDI VERDI is a Java program for visualizing meteorology, emissions, and air quality 

modeling data. With options for overlaying GIS Shapefiles and observational data 

onto model output, VERDI offers a range of options for viewing atmospheric 

modeling data. VERDI scripting provides a powerful interface for automating the 

production of graphics for analyzing the data [CMAS 2010]. 

VLSTRACK The VLSTRACK Computer Model, version 1.6, provides approximate downwind 

hazard predictions for a wide range of chemical and biological agents and munitions 

of military interest. Output can be obtained either as a cumulative hazard from the 

time of the attack or as a periodic hazard for each time period. The model also 

features variable meteorology, allowing for interfacing the attack with a 

meteorological forecast; this feature is very important for biological and secondary 

evaporation computations. A vertical wind profile meteorology forecast can also be 

used for high-altitude releases [OFCM 2010b]. 

WRF Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is a mesoscale numerical weather 

prediction system designed to serve both operational forecasting and atmospheric 

research needs. It features multiple dynamical cores, a 3-dimensional variational 

(3DVAR) data assimilation system, and a software architecture allowing for 

computational parallelism and system extensibility. WRF is suitable for a broad 

spectrum of applications across scales ranging from meters to thousands of kilometers 

[WRF 2010]. 

C.2 – Critical Infrastructure M&S Tools 

Tool Acronym Brief Description 

ABAQUS Abaqus Unified FEA product suite has following significant capabilities that are used 

to solve multiphysics problems such as impact of forces on critical structures: 

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Coupled Eulerian Lagrangian, HydrostaticFluid-Mechanical, Piezoelectric-Mechanical, Structural-Acoustic, Thermal-Electrical, 

Thermal-Mechanical, Thermal-Fluid-Mechanical, and Structural-Pore Pressure. 

[Simulia 2011] 

AIMS The AIMS system is designed to aid research into critical infrastructures and the 

interdependencies between them. The simulation suite focuses on the types of 

services that are provided by infrastructure components. Each infrastructure system 

component is modeled as an agent and its services as its behavior [Bagheri 2007]. 

AIMSUN Developed by Transport Simulation Systems, Spain, AIMSUN provides integrated 

modeling of traffic at macro-meso-micro scales. It provides advanced traffic models 

capable of fast execution [TSS 2010]. It is one of the tools used in the M&S 

Integration Framework project at the National Center for the Study of Preparedness 

and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER) located at Johns Hopkins University. 
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ANSYS ANSYS Multiphysics simulation solutions allow engineers and designers to create 

virtual prototypes of structures operating under real-world multiphysics conditions. It 

enables simulation of the interactions between structural mechanics, heat transfer, 

fluid flow and electromagnetics within a single, unified engineering simulation 

environment. It allows prediction of forces, stresses, and thermal and catastrophic 

effects. The software is ISO-9001 certified and has NQA-1 quality classification for 

use in nuclear structural analysis. [ANSYS 2011] 

ATFP Anti Terrorism/ Force Protection (ATFP) tool has been developed at the Naval 

Postgraduate School and can be used for planning for waterside security for ships in a 

port. It combines agent-based simulation with X3D based visualization. The target 

users are personnel in charge of port security and Coast Guard [Brutzman 2006]. 

ATOM Air Transportation Optimization Model (ATOM) is a network flow model of the air 

transportation system of the Nation. It can be used to determine the impact of 

disruptions and to develop optimal re-routing schemes [NISAC 2011b]. 

CARVER2 The CARVER2 vulnerability assessment tool is designed to quickly and easily 

identify and compare potential natural disaster and/or terrorist targets at the local, 

state and national levels in order to assist government officials in the allocation of 

protective resources. It does not have any simulation capability. Developed under the 

sponsorship of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, it is available free 

of charge to federal, state, and local government officials and agencies [NI2CIE 

2009]. 

CASCADE The CASCADE model can be used for analyzing the potential of catastrophic 

disruptions of large, interconnected infrastructure systems due to cascading failures. It 

is a probabilistic model of load depending cascading failure. It has been extended to 

include a dynamic component. It can be used to evaluate the impact of policies on the 

reliability of infrastructure for various operation ranges [Carreras 2009]. 

CI3 Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies Integrator (CI3) has been developed at 

Argonne National Labs to estimate (through Monte Carlo simulation) the time and/or 

cost to restore a given infrastructure component, a specific infrastructure system, or an 

interdependent set of infrastructures to an operational state. CI3 also provides a 

framework for incorporating uncertainty into the analysis of critical infrastructures 

[Gillette 2002]. 

CIMS Critical Infrastructure Modeling System (CIMS) has been developed to examine the 

interrelationships between infrastructure networks and more specifically, the 

emergent systems behaviors that develop when one or more nodes within the system 

are perturbed. It takes a command-level approach seeking to provide decision makers 

with sufficient information in terms of mission [Dudenhoeffer 2006]. 

CIMSuite Critical Infrastructure Modeling (CIMSuite) software offers powerful, easy-to-use 

tools for both modeling and simulating complex interactions of infrastructure systems 

and predicting emergent behaviors through time. CIMSuite software gives users the 

potential to integrate multiple systems and visualize the results of cascading events 

including factors such as human social dynamics. The CIMSuite software data 

structure lends itself to both 3-D visualization and further algorithmic treatment, 

including time-step simulations, real-time data integration and analysis using methods 
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such as genetic algorithms and neural networks [INL 2007]. 

CIPDSS Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System (CIPDSS) has been 

developed jointly by LANL, Sandia and Argonne National Labs (ANL). The set of 

tools under the CIPDSS program models the impact of CI on the economy, 

government, and population. LANL developed the city level models, Sandia 

developed the national level models while ANL provided the decision support part. 

The set of tools is intended to provide “orders of magnitude” results quickly. It was 

used for the analysis underlying NISAC’s report on potential impact of pandemic 

influenza [Powell 2007]. 

CIPDSS-DM CIPDSS-DM is a model used to compute the relative preference of alternative 

intervention strategies based on multi-attribute decision theory and was developed 

specifically as an aid to making decisions under conditions of uncertainty and risk. It 

helps decision makers integrate the large amount of quantitative information and 

insights generated by consequence simulations into a single measure of relative merit 

that informs the decision maker’s comparison of available alternative intervention 

strategies. The relative preference model is combined with an analysis model that 

calculates the level of confidence in choosing any one intervention strategy over 

another and quantifies maximum and expected levels of satisfaction and regret 

[NISAC 2007]. 

CIPMA The Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Modeling and Analysis (CIPMA) 

Program is a key component of the Australian Government’s efforts to enhance the 

protection of the critical infrastructure. The capability includes a series of ‘impact 

models’ to analyze the effects of a disruption to critical infrastructure services. This 

information is assisting the development and direction of government policy in 

national security and critical infrastructure protection (CIP), and helping owners and 

operators to better protect their critical infrastructure [TISN 2010]. 

CIPR/Sim Critical Infrastructure Protection and Resiliency Simulator (CIPR/sim) allows 

emergency planners to visualize the real-time cascading effects of multiple 

infrastructure failures before an actual emergency occurs. It uses a common operating 

framework that allows the tool to import real-time data from numerous existing 

analysis modules, including RTDS (Real Time Digital Simulator) for electric grid 

analysis, QualNet for telecommunications analysis, and PC Tide for wind speed and 

flood surge analysis [Walsh 2009]. 

 

 CISIA Critical Infrastructure Simulation by Interdependent Agents (CISIA) is a simulator 

that uses a modular and sufficiently abstract representation of the different 

infrastructures’ components to allow consistent descriptions, starting from the 

incomplete and generic data acquirable from stakeholders. Each component interacts 

with the others via a multitude of mechanisms that codify different concepts of 

proximity. The simulator has been used to analyze, in a simplified scenario, crisis 

evolution in the urban area of Rome in the presence of a failure in the electric power 

system [De Porcellinis 2008]. 

CommAspen CommAspen is an agent-based model for simulating the interdependent effects of 

market decisions and disruptions in the telecommunications infrastructure on other 

critical infrastructures in the U.S. economy such as banking and finance, and electric 
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power. CommAspen extends and modifies the capabilities of Aspen-EE, an agentbased model previously developed by Sandia National Laboratories to analyze the 

interdependencies between the electric power system and other critical infrastructures 

[Barton 2004]. 

CTH (ChartD 

to Three 

Halves) 

CTH models multidimensional, multi-material, large deformation, strong shock wave 

physics. CTH has several models that are useful for simulating strong shock, large 

deformation events. Both tabular and analytic equations of state are available. CTH 

can model elastic-plastic behavior, high explosive detonation, fracture, and motion of 

fragments smaller than a computational cell. A programmed burn model is available 

for modeling high explosive detonation. Fracture can be initiated based on pressure or 

principle stress. A special model is available for moving fragments smaller than a 

computational cell with statistically the correct velocity. [Sandia 2011] 

DEM The Discrete Event Model (DEM) has been combined with hydraulic simulation 

model (Adaptive Hydraulic model [ADH]) to produce an integrated set of tools for 

addressing a wide range of navigation and operational problems at Corps locks and 

dams and commercial facilities and thus investigate issues with waterways 

transportation infrastructure [USACE 2011]. 

DEW Distributed Engineering Workstation (DEW) can be used to create integrated system 

models, incorporating entire power distribution network from substations to service 

points. It supports interconnected, multidisciplinary models (i.e. Power, Fluid, Gas) 

and system interdependencies and provides analytical tools for advanced system 

planning, design, and operation [EDD 2011]. 

 

DYNA3D DYNA3D (“Dynamics in 3 Dimensions”) is an explicit finite-element code that 

addresses the behavior of structures as they deform and fail. Homeland security 

applications of the code include: blast-effect analyses, mass transit vulnerability 

analysis (underwater tunnel), blast resistant trash can analysis, and analysis of effects 

of destructive earthquakes and major accidents on bridges and dams. Some of the 

analyses include use of related codes such as ALE3D (Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian 

in 3D code for modeling explosive processes), NIKE3D (Nonlinear implicit 3D finite 

element code for modeling dynamic deformations) and SPH (Smooth Particle 

Hydrodynamics code for modeling a hole in an underwater tunnel) [LLNL 2011]. 

 

DYSMAS Dynamic System Mechanics Advanced Simulation (DYSMAS) is a fully-coupled 

hydrocode for simulating underwater explosion phenomena and their effects on naval 

structures. It provides system design/qualification support and structural damage 

prediction capability [Moyer 2008]. The tool can be useful for modeling impact of 

underwater explosions on ships in general. 

EMCAS The Electricity Market Complex Adaptive System (EMCAS) models the electricity 

market representing its diverse participants as “agents.” All agents have their own set 

of objectives, decision-making rules, and behavioral patterns. Further, agents can 

draw on an array of historical information (e.g., past power prices) and projected data 

(e.g., next-day load) to support their unique decision process. EMCAS has been used 

to study electricity market restructuring issues in the U.S., Europe, and Asia [ANL 

2011a]. 
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FAIT Fast Analysis Infrastructure Tool (FAIT) is used to determine the significance and 

interdependencies associated with elements of the Nation’s critical infrastructure. It 

utilizes system expert-defined object-oriented interdependencies, encoded in a rulebased expert systems software language (JESS), to define relationships between assets 

across different infrastructures. These interdependencies take into account proximity, 

known service boundaries, ownership, and other unique characteristics of assets found 

in their associated metadata [NISAC 2011c]. 

FDNA Functional Dependency Network Analysis (FDNA) is a methodology that enables 

planners to measure the ripple effects of degraded operability in one or more entities 

or feeder-receiver chains on system capabilities, due to the potential realization of 

adverse events [Garvey 2009]. It can be used to study the cascading effect of an 

incident across interdependent infrastructure systems. 

FEPVA The Framework for Electricity Production Vulnerability Assessment (FEPVA) can be 

used to assess the potential impact of natural disasters or malicious attacks for both 

response and preventative purposes. In particular, it can be used to identify the power 

plants that will be potentially affected and to what degree given a disruption of fuel 

supply due to a disaster. The framework has three major capabilities: (1) requirement 

analysis, data acquisition, and data processing; (2) development of the data 

warehouse; and (3) visualization and data mining [Shih 2009]. 

FinSim Financial System Infrastructure Model (FinSim) represents the U.S. financial services 

sector as a complex decentralized system with multiple interacting autonomous 

decision nodes, or agents. Those nodes represent different types of real-world agents, 

such as banks, traders, markets, and brokers. The financial system interactions are 

executed through an explicit message exchange, intermediated by the 

telecommunications system with electric power dependencies for the purpose of 

investigating possible vulnerabilities [Outkin 2006]. 

Fort Future VI Fort Future Virtual Installation (VI) is meant for installation level infrastructure 

modeling. It integrates utility system simulations with each other and with a resource 

contention process model. Results from utility simulations include detailed operating 

data, such as flow rates and pressures in water systems and voltages and currents in 

electrical systems. The VI incorporates rules of thumb (heuristics) to translate 

simulation results into actionable information based on the question at hand [USACE 

2010]. 

FRAM The Fuzzy Relation Analysis Method (FRAM) method has been implemented in GIS 

for modeling and analyzing interdependencies of critical infrastructures. The 

modeling processes include the following four components: (1) an asymmetrical 

fuzzy relation matrix representing direct relationships between nodes in infrastructure 

networks; (2) an asymmetrical fuzzy relation matrix representing direct and cascade 

relationships between infrastructure networks; (3) a mathematical transformation 

converting asymmetric relations in to transitive relations with properties of direct 

relations stronger than indirect relations; and (4) a method for ranking infrastructures 

in terms of their relative importance [Cheng 2007].

I2SIM Infrastructure Interdependencies Simulation (I2SIM) is being developed under the 

Joint Infrastructure Interdependencies Research Program (JIIRP) at the University of 
124

British Columbia in Canada. It is intended to capture the complex time line dynamics 

that occur in a system of multiple infrastructures as events develop during large 

disaster situations. The system modeling and solution approach implemented in 

I2SIM is based on a dynamic time-sensitive coordination of the delivery of the vital 

goods and services required to maximize human survivability. I2SIM models the 

network of networks that results when multiple CIs are brought into the picture 

simultaneously [UBC 2007]. 

IEISS Interdependent Environment for Infrastructure System Simulations (IEISS) is a 

flexible and extendible software framework designed for MS&A of multiple 

interdependent infrastructures. It allows study of complex, nonlinear and emergent 

system behaviors through a system-of-systems modeling approach and a unified view 

of physical interdependencies. It includes the following infrastructure models: 

electric power, natural gas, water, petroleum (POL), telecomm and SCADA. It 

includes interactive 2D and 3D visualizers. It is accessible through HYDRA, a 

service oriented architecture, and INDRA, a browser enabled client for risk based 

decision support [NISAC 2011d]. 

IIM Inoperability Input–Output Model (IIM) estimates the cascading inoperability and 

economic losses that result from interdependencies within large-scale economic and 

infrastructure systems. Based on the Nobel Prize-winning W. Leontief economic 

model, the IIM is a computationally efficient, inexpensive, holistic method for 

estimating economic impacts. It can be used to calculate higher-order effects from 

attacks to vulnerabilities and implementation of risk management policies in largescale economic systems and to evaluate risk management options against multiple 

objectives [Crowther 2005]. 

INTEPOINT 

VU 

IntePoint Vu uses a combination of techniques to analyze complex environments and 

model system-wide interdependencies across physical, virtual and social networks. It 

utilizes Agent-Based Simulation to model the behavior of dynamic systems. It allows 

developing a broad understanding of an incident and its implications and facilitates 

effective, timely decisions to plan for the unknown [IntePoint 2008]. 

Loki Toolkit Loki is a generalized networked-agent modeling toolkit. It includes a set of 

components that can be selected, customized, and combined to create abstract models 

of diverse networks including power systems, pipelines, social networks, and 

financial networks. The ability to combine networks allows modeling the interactions 

across these networks. The toolkit includes analysis and visualization resources, such 

as network displays and statistical summaries to allow analysts to rapidly gain insights 

into the behavior of networked systems. Loki-Infect, a social network model for 

evaluating disease cascades, has been used to identify and evaluate mitigation 

strategies for disease spread [NISAC 2011e]. 

LS-DYNA LS-DYNA is a general purpose transient dynamic finite element program capable of 

simulating complex real world problems. It is a strongly coupled multi-physics solver 

that can be used for modeling critical infrastructure behavior under an earthquake and 

other forces. It has a combined Implicit/Explicit solver for highly nonlinear transient 

problems enabling the solution of coupled multi-physics and multi-stage problems. 

[LSTC 2011] 
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MACCS2 MACCS2 Accident Consequence Analysis Code is used to calculate dispersion of 

radioactive material to the environment and the population. It uses a dose-response 

model to determine the health consequences of a severe nuclear facility accident in 

terms of early fatalities (how many people in a population would die in the weeks or 

months following exposure) and latent cancer risk (how many people in a population 

would contract a fatal cancer as a result of exposure).[NRC 2011] 

MBRA The MBRA tool supports the Model-Based Risk Assessment technique. There are two 

key components of MBRA: the network analysis and the fault tree analysis. These 

two parts can be performed independently or together. The network analysis models 

an infrastructure network and helps the analyst to determine which components are 

the most critical. The fault tree is an engineering technique used to model possible 

faults to related parts of a system and then to determine how best to allocate resources 

to those parts to minimize overall risk [CHDS 2011]. 

MELCOR MELCORE is an integrated, engineering-level computer code used to model the 

progression of postulated accidents in light-water reactors, as well as non-reactor 

systems (e.g., spent fuel pool and dry cask). It is a modular code consisting of three 

general types of fast-running, parametric model packages for (a) basic physical 

phenomena, (b) reactor-specific phenomena, and (c) support functions. These 

packages model the major systems of a nuclear power plant and their associated 

interactions. [NRC 2011] 

MIITS Multi-Scale Integrated Information and Telecommunications System (MIITS) module 

is a scalable, end-to-end simulation environment for representing and analyzing 

extremely large, complex communication networks of any type, including cellular 

networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), the Internet, and ad hoc mesh 

networks. MIITS offers network representation in several resolutions, ranging from 

packet-level simulation to flow-based approaches. It is used as a part of the Urban 

Infrastructure Suite (UIS) at NISAC [NISAC 2011f]. 

MIN A three-layer Multi-Layer Infrastructure Networks (MIN) model is used to model 

auto, urban freight, and data infrastructure and solved using Agent-Based Simulation. 

This modeling uses a game-theoretic approach because the auto and freight flow 

dynamics are based on a fixed-point formulation of a Cournot-Nash equilibrium of 

games while travelers, travel information providers, freight shippers, and carriers are 

treated as self-interest players in the games [Zhang 2005]. 

MSM The MIT Screening Methodology (MSM) has been developed at the Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology (MIT) for the identification and prioritization of 

vulnerabilities in infrastructures. The infrastructures are modeled as interconnected 

digraphs and employ graph theory to identify the candidate vulnerable scenarios. 

These scenarios are screened for the susceptibility of their elements to a terrorist 

attack, and a prioritized list of vulnerabilities is produced. The prioritization 

methodology is based on multi-attribute utility theory. The impact of losing 

infrastructure services is evaluated using a value tree that reflects the perceptions and 

values of the decisionmaker and the relevant stakeholders. These results, which are 

conditional on a specified threat, are provided to the decisionmaker for use in risk 

management [Li 2009], [Apostolakas 2005]. 
126

MUNICIPAL Multi-Network Interdependent Critical Infrastructure Program for Analysis of 

Lifelines (MUNICIPAL) is a decision support system for the design and assessment 

of protection strategies including: identifying key elements to reduce the impact of 

disruptions, determining what levels of effort are required to restore service, 

designing alternative paths to reduce vulnerability, and determining where to site 

emergency response resources to rapidly restore services after a disruption. 

MUNICIPAL supports response and restoration following disruptions, facilitates 

analysis of threat scenarios and supports emergency preparation and training activities 

[Lee 2005]. 

N-ABLE NISAC Agent-Based Laboratory for Economics (N-ABLE) is a large-scale 

microeconomic simulation tool that captures complex internal supply chain and 

market dynamics of businesses in the U.S. economy. It can be used to evaluate 

policies through simulation of millions of interacting firms. It has been used to study 

the impact of chlorine transportation disruption with a model of 3,300 related firms 

and 15,000 links [NISAC 2011g]. 

Net-Centric 

GIS 

A network-centric modeling approach is used and an infrastructure interdependency 

knowledgebase is implemented in a WEBGIS environment for effective decisionmaking process. The spatial knowledgebase mimics interrelationships between 

selected critical infrastructure sectors. The approach can be used for effectively 

addressing the issues of infrastructure interdependency during emergencies [Abdalla 

2007]. 

NG Analysis 

Tools 

Natural gas (NGx) analysis tools allow modeling of the natural gas pipeline 

infrastructure. NGflow identifies critical links and nodes in a network topology. 

NGanalyzer assists users in analyzing identified gas engineering vulnerabilities, such 

as the number of city-gates, available storage, and pipeline capacity and 

interconnection. NGcut determines network component failure sets that could isolate 

a specific location or site from all supply sources. NGdepletion addresses outage 

duration times and determines whether and when a component outage will affect a 

specific location or site. NGpressure determines how the loss of a critical link or node 

under various operating conditions might affect a natural gas system [ANL 2011b]. 

NSRAM Network Security Risk Assessment Model (NSRAM) is a tool for determining the 

probability of failure and repair/recovery time of complex systems composed of a 

network or system of networks. It models interconnected networks, such as electrical 

grids, communication systems, and roadways. Its features include: a time domain 

probabilistic risk assessment method, an ability to analyze the interaction of disparate 

network elements, and a detailed repair simulation capability [IIIA 2007]. 

PARCS The Purdue Advanced Reactor Core Simulator (PARCS) is a computer code that 

solves the time-dependent two-group neutron diffusion equation in three-dimensional 

Cartesian geometry using nodal methods to obtain the transient neutron flux 

distribution. The code may be used in the analysis of reactivity-initiated accidents in 

light-water reactors where spatial effects may be important. [NRC 2011] 

PipelineNet PipelineNet is a Windows stand-alone PC application that integrates hydraulic and 

water quality models from EPA’s EPANET 2.0 with existing databases to give 

emergency managers real time information for estimating the risks to public water 
127

supplies. PipelineNet simulates the flow and concentration of biological or chemical 

contaminants in a city or municipality’s water distribution system from single and 

multiple sources, simulates water tracing and ageing, aids in the location of 

monitoring sites, provides tools for regulatory compliance and helps to evaluate 

contamination mitigation alternatives [SAIC 2011a].

RADTRAD RADionuclide Transport and Removal And Dose (RADTRAD) estimation code uses 

a combination of tables and numerical models of source term reduction phenomena to 

determine the time-dependent dose at specified locations for a given nuclear accident 

scenario. It also provides the inventory, decay chain, and dose conversion factor 

tables needed for the dose calculation. It can be used to assess occupational radiation 

exposures, typically in the control room; to estimate site boundary doses; and to 

estimate dose attenuation due to modification of a facility or accident sequence. [NRC 

2011] 

Restore Restore models complex sets of steps required to accomplish a goal, such as repairing 

a ruptured natural gas pipeline, when the time required to complete a step may be 

uncertain due to such factors as the time of day, weather, and availability of crew. 

Restore allows a user to estimate the time and cost (which may also be uncertain) 

needed to achieve an intermediate stage of completion, as well as overall completion. 

The tool also identifies the “most active path” through the network of tasks. It 

generates output graphs of probability distributions for overall and intermediate 

completion times [ANL 2011c]. 

R-NAS R-NAS is a network flow model of primary rail tracks, yards, bridges and other rail 

facilities in the continental U.S., with flow based on commodity movement data from 

the Department of Transportation. The model can be used for quantifying the impact 

of disruptions in the network. Network flow optimization routines can be used to 

reroute the flows to support trans-incident operations support. The model has been 

used to analyze the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the rail network [NISAC 2011b]. 

RTDS Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) provides power systems simulation technology 

for study of power systems with complex High Voltage Alternating Current (HVAC) 

and High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) networks. It is a fully digital 

electromagnetic transients power system simulator that operates in real time. Since 

the simulator functions in real-time the power system algorithms are calculated 

quickly enough to continuously produce output conditions which realistically 

represent conditions in a real network. The simulator can be directly connected to the 

power system control and protection equipment for running simulations [INL 2010]. 

SIERRA SIERRA (System for Import/Export Routing and Recovery Analysis) is a network 

model that represents container movements between the U.S. and 46 other countries 

that account for the vast majority of U.S. imports and exports. It predicts flows 

between the ports including, the total volumes handled (import and export) by each 

port, the modal volumes (truck and rail) moving domestically into and out of each 

port, and volumes between each port and a set of transportation analysis zones within 

the U.S. It was created to allow analysis of the changes in flow patterns that would 

occur under a variety of potential conditions (e.g., port disruptions, extensive securityrelated delays, etc.) related to container ports and movements. [NISAC 2009] [Jones 

2011] 
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Subway 

Environmental 

Simulation 

(SES) 

The Subway Environment Simulation (SES) Computer Program and Subway 

Environmental Design Handbook were developed in the early 1970’s under 

sponsorship of the Federal Transit Administration to assist in the planning, design, 

and construction of subway ventilation systems. It provides tunnel designers with the 

tools to: properly size and locate ventilation shafts, evaluate tunnel geometry and fan 

size, optimize temperature, and model the effects of heat and smoke resulting from 

fires and other sources. [DoT 2011] 

TEVA Threat Ensemble Vulnerability Assessment (TEVA) is a probabilistic framework for 

assessing the vulnerability of a water utility to a large range of contamination attacks. 

TEVA addresses the spatial and temporal complexities of water-distribution networks 

by integrating network hydraulic models with water-quality models, health-impact 

models, and sensor-placement algorithms. The integrated set of models allows 

decision makers to assess the potential health impacts of a variety of contamination 

scenarios; to design and evaluate possible mitigation strategies, such as a contaminant 

warning system; and to plan effective response activities, such as containment and 

public health intervention [ANL 2011d]. 

TRACE The TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine (TRACE) is a modernized 

thermal-hydraulics code designed to to analyze large/small break loss of coolant 

accidents and system transients in both pressurized- and boiling-water reactors. The 

capability exists to model thermal hydraulic phenomena in both one-dimensional (1-

D) and three-dimensional (3-D) space. This is the NRC’s flagship thermal-hydraulics 

analysis tool. [NRC 2011] 

TRAGIS The Transportation Routing Analysis Geographic Information System (TRAGIS) 

model is used to calculate highway, rail, or waterway routes within the United States. 

TRAGIS is a client-server application with the user interface and map data files 

residing on the user’s personal computer and the routing engine and network data files 

on a network server. The user can also view a detailed listing of the route and 

population-density information, which can be used with other risk models [ORNL 

2006]. 

TRANSIMS Transportation Analysis Simulation System (TRANSIMS) simulates the daily 

activities and movements of individuals in an urban region. The individuals are 

synthetic—they do not represent actual people—but a census taken on the entire 

synthetic population would be statistically identical. The locations visited by 

individuals are real street addresses and reflect actual land-use patterns in the region. 

It provides the following information about the synthetic population and its mobility: 

household structure and demographics, activity locations, times, and durations, and 

trips between activities, including route plans and execution of the route plans on the 

transportation network. It is also used as a module in Urban Infrastructure Suite 

(UIS) at NISAC [NISAC 2011h]. 

UIS Urban Infrastructure Suite (UIS) is a set of seven interoperable modules that employ 

advanced modeling and simulation methodologies to represent urban infrastructures 

and populations. These simulation-based modules are linked through a common 

interface for the flow of information between UIS sector simulations to model urban 

transportation, telecommunications, public health, energy (IEISS), financial 
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(commodity markets), and water-distribution (WISE) infrastructures and their 

interdependencies [NISAC 2011i]. 

VISAC Visual Interactive Site Analysis Code (VISAC) is a Java-based expert system that 

provides mission planners with a coordinated capability to predict and analyze the 

outcomes of different accidents/incidents at various nuclear and industrial facilities. 

The incidents can range from simple individual equipment sabotage to complex 

sorties that utilize a range of military weapons, simulated truck or car bombs, or 

satchel charges. The target facility is generated by either customizing existing 3-D 

CAD models for near real-time analysis or creating a new model from scratch. Using 

event/fault tree methodology, VISAC provides the probability of facility kill, the 

probability of undesirable collateral effects (chemical or radiological releases), and an 

estimate of facility down time [ORNL 2004]. 

WISE Water Infrastructure Simulation Environment (WISE) is an analytic framework 

supporting the evaluation of water infrastructure in terms of both infrastructure 

specific and interdependency issues. Analysts can use WISE to study transmission 

scale water distribution systems, define and simulate flood events due to excess 

rainfall and hurricane storm surge, create spatial estimates of water demand, simulate 

water distribution system hydraulics and water quality using EPANET, build water 

distribution network models within a GIS and visualize output from EPANET within 

a GIS [NISAC 2011j]. 

C.3 – Incident Management M&S Tools 

A number of incident management modeling and training tools have been developed through the efforts of

federal agencies, universities, research organizations and commercial companies. This section lists existing 

tools that have been identified through Internet searches and site visits to known organizations involved in 

M&S of incident management systems. The tools are arranged alphabetically based on their developer’s 

acronyms, or in some cases, abbreviations assigned by the authors for purposes of the readability of this 

document. 

Tool Acronym Brief Description 

ACATS Advanced Conflict and Tactical Simulation (ACATS) software is for training first 

responders in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological (CBR), or nuclear 

terrorist attack in an urban scenario. ACATS provides the ability to model 

contaminant flows throughout urban environments and into buildings through their 

HVAC systems. ACATS is able to look at conceptual operations through additional 

modeling capabilities that include human injuries and fatalities, portable CBR sensors, 

building evacuation, crowd behavior, and responder tactics [LLNL 2010]. 

ADMS Advanced Disaster Management Simulator (ADMS) is available in two versions. 

ADMS-COMMAND is an on-scene incident command training simulator for first 

responders and on-scene commanders in mono and multi-agency operations, from 

basic incidents to complex disasters. It bridges the gap between tabletop exercises and 

real world experience. Common learning objectives are Command, Control, 

Coordination and Communication [ETC 2010a]. 
130

ADMS-EOC ADMS-EOC is for training strategic level incident management teams, and 

Emergency Operations Center personnel. ADMS-EOC includes additional learning 

objectives such as Planning, Mapping, Logistics and Information Management. 

ADMS-EOC can be combined with ADMS-COMMAND to train on-scene and 

strategic command at the same time [ETC 2010b]. 

ASOCC Area Security Operations Command and Control (ASOCC) is an interactive 

computer-based system designed to provide real-time situational awareness 

capabilities. It can provide graphic and imagery-based photographs and maps with 

supporting data, collaboration capabilities, a log and alert function, and a means to 

access and display updated information from web-based status board and databases. It 

was originally developed by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for 

U.S. military use. ASSOC may provide access to data on current situation needed for 

simulation of response options [CWID 2004]. 

BioDAC Biological Weapons of Mass Destruction Decision Analysis Center has been 

developed at Sandia. It combines multiple simulations for analysis of decisions 

related to a biological agent release. The simulation includes: threat, population, 

health monitoring, environmental monitoring, and incident management roles of 

multiple involved groups. It was used to support an exercise in San Diego. Insights 

gained from the exercise and analyses have been incorporated in to the development 

of National Bio-Monitoring Architecture [Linebarger 2007]. 

CATS Consequences Assessment Tool Set (CATS) provides incident manager and first 

responder tools for analyzing and assessing the impact of potential disasters from 

natural and technological sources. CATS assesses the consequences of technological 

disasters on population, resources, and infrastructure. CATS analyzes the damage to 

the environment, the risk to the well-being of the exposed population, and provides 

real-time resource allocation information to mitigate the consequences. [SAIC 2011] 

CEMPlanner Comprehensive Emergency Management Planner (CEMPlanner) is a web-based 

planning system that creates industry compliant plans. It provides customizable 

templates that collect the information and generates emergency operation plans 

(EOP), site plans and all of their components. The software is included in this list 

since it may be possible to input the generated plans in to simulation models for 

evaluation [Previstar 2008]. 

Commander Commander is a situational awareness tool built on the Geo-spatial Information 

System (GIS) application developed by Intergraph known as GeoMedia. It includes 

other critical information such as vehicle tracking, plume cloud distribution, dynamic 

building and vehicle gate status. It also allows resource tracking, interfacing with the 

Warfighter Protection Lab (WPL) simulation suite, and as a front-end driver for the 

Center for Domestic Preparedness Incident Command Course tool [Belk 2006]. 

CPS The Continual Preparedness System (CPS) is primarily a crisis information 

management software (CIMS) from Previstar, but it includes predictive modeling 

capabilities including a bio-agents model set for infectious and non-infectious 

diseases and hurricane debris model. A model builder is available for users to build 

their own models [Previstar 2008]. 
131

CrowdSim Developed at LANL, CrowdSim is an agent-based framework for simulating large 

crowd dynamics. It simulates behavior of pedestrians in a crowd. It has been used to 

model the national mall. It was originally built on Repast and includes event handler 

and visualization. It is now being enhanced using particle and cell modeling 

computational techniques [Saeger 2007]. 

DI-Guy Dismounted Infantry Guy (DI-Guy) Scenario was developed by Boston Dynamics as 

an interactive, three-dimensional simulation depicting individuals and their behaviors. 

The Warfighter Protection Lab employs DI-Guy to create scenarios and control the 

placement and behavior of characters in detailed urban environments, allowing 

emergency responders to train for situational scenarios outside of actual emergency 

events [BostonDyn 2007]. 

DrillSim The DrillSim simulator is a multi-agent crisis simulator that can play out the activities 

of the response (e.g., evacuation) during a crisis from the perspective of IT solution 

integration. The simulator can model different response activities at both the macro 

and micro level, and model the information flow between different entities. IT 

solutions, models, etc. can be plugged in at different interfaces between these 

activities to study the effectiveness of research solutions in disaster management and 

tested for utility in disaster response. DrillSim is being developed at the University of 

California at Irvine [Massaguer 2006]. 

EDMSIM Emergency and Disaster Management Simulation (EDMSIM) is an entity-based, realtime constructive simulation for training the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) 

staff by replacing the traditional “Table Top model” and Master Scenario Events List 

(MSEL) exercises with a computer simulation. EDMSIM runs on multiple computers 

for training EOC staff and leaders: First Responders operate the simulation and report 

to EOC, EOC makes decisions, and Decisions are tested within the simulation and 

feedback provided. [ATC 2010] 

EM*ES Emergency Management Exercise System (EM*ES) is a scenario-driven simulationsupported exercise environment that offers great flexibility with respect to the 

targeted training audience and types of incidents introduced in the scenario. It is 

available in both web-based and distributed application variants. It can be used 

operationally as a command and control system and blurs the line between training 

and operations. It provides a common operational picture for emergency management 

personnel thereby facilitating a higher state of situational awareness for all 

participants. It is fully compliant with the National Incident Management System 

(NIMS) [Wall 2009]. 

EMST Emergency Management Staff Trainer (EMST) is a multi-player simulation-based 

exercise system geared toward emergency response professionals. EMST provides 

scenarios, exercises, and other capabilities that support the structure of the National 

Incident Management System (NIMS), including both individual and team training 

for the fifteen FEMA Emergency Support Functions (ESFs). EMST is an all-hazards 

trainer, with a range of scenarios including natural disasters, terrorist attacks, 

pandemic, and civil unrest. Each EMST exercise scenario presents an unfolding 

situation through email, news videos, web site articles, simulated phone calls, 

meetings, maps, images, and other injects, and requires the participant to take action 
132

to respond to or mitigate the situation [ECS 2010].

Ground Truth Ground Truth is designed for high-level incident commanders who need to understand 

how to best allocate their resources. The game also educates users on the dangers 

faced by on-scene emergency responders. The serious game has been developed at 

Sandia National Laboratory at Livermore with support from University of Southern 

California’s GamePipe Laboratory [Janes 2007]. 

Hydra Hydra is a training simulator designed to provide incident command officers and 

senior-investigating officers with training that is as close to the real thing as possible. 

The Hydra system provides students with a chance to experience the management of 

large-scale criminal investigations and major critical incident command. It includes 

support for fast-time and slow-time decision making, tactical and strategic levels of 

command, complex information and action flow, simulated resource management, 

and decision tracking and audit [Hydra 2010]. Developed in the United Kingdom, the 

simulation system is in use at the Los Angeles Police Department [Pittman 2010]. 

IC2020 Incident Command 2020 (IC2020) is being developed at Dartmouth College as a 

prototype of a next-generation incident command software architecture that combines 

situational awareness, embedded simulation, and planning functions. It is designed to 

be a realization of the NIMS incident command system and common operational 

picture, and to be a research and demonstration platform for simulation, sensor 

integration, and human factor studies. The simulation that supports IC2020 manages 

the state of simulated objects (vehicles, personnel, equipment) and generates event 

notifications [McGrath 2006]. 

ICATS Incident Command Analytic Training System (ICATS) is being developed at LLNL 

with ACATS at its core (see earlier entry for ACATS). ICATS is a collection of 

simulations and technologies that provides a solution for the training of our federal, 

state, and local emergency incident managers. ICATS is being used to evaluate and 

train incident command staff making critical decisions in a stressful virtualcatastrophe environment. It links them simultaneously from distributed locations and 

jurisdictions and enables them, individually and collectively, to experience the 

immediate consequences of their decisions and determine the best course of response

[LLNL 2010]. 

ICWM Incident Command Workflow Modeling has been developed at Monmouth 

University. It provides on the fly modification and validation of workflow for ICS. It 

has been designed with volunteers in mind who may need intuitive features for the 

description and modification of the workflow [Wang 2008]. 

Incident 

Commander 

Incident Commander is a PC-based simulation developed for the U.S. Department of 

Justice by BreakAway to train first responders, emergency personnel and multiagency personnel to plan, and prepare for emergency and crisis situations. Incident 

Commander can train up to 16 players simultaneously, with users assuming roles as 

either the commander or members of the operations team. The game simulates various 

crisis scenarios, including a natural disaster, a school hostage situation, and a 

terrorism incident in a hypothetical any town, USA setting [Breakaway 2010a]. 
133

JNEM Joint Non-kinetic Effects Model (JNEM) developed at the Jet Propulsion Lab is a tool 

developed for DoD requirements to model non-kinetic effects such as the reaction of 

crowd and civilians in areas surrounding a force action. The tool models a number of 

situations such as power outages, water shortages, and sewage spill, and their impact 

on civilian mood. Civilian concerns and mood are in turn modeled based on 

perceived autonomy, safety, culture and quality of life. The tool is also applicable to 

homeland security scenarios and has been used to support Ardent Sentry – Northern 

Edge 07 exercise conducted jointly by DoD and DHS [Chamberlain 2006]. 

LMIS LMIS is a simulation-based exercise and training capability whose focus is on disaster 

response and recovery. LMIS is derived from DoD simulations including the Joint 

Semi Automated Forces (JSAF) code base, which is a highly scalable civilian model 

utilizing entity-level modeling with aggregate-level network data and behavior 

models; the Warfighters Simulation (WARSIM), an aggregate-level command and 

staff training simulation with in-depth logistics models and interfaces to operational 

command & control (C2) and situational awareness systems; and a variety of 

additional models and capabilities specific to the domain of disaster response [Beck 

2009]. 

LPAT Logistics Process Analysis Tool (LPAT) has been developed at ANL. The LPAT 

model helps the planners quantitatively evaluate the transportation and logistics 

aspects of their emergency plans through a “from warehouse to citizen” simulation. 

Planners are able to use LPAT’s macro-level logistics and transportation component 

independently or together with its micro-level process simulation component to test, 

analyze and understand the interactive elements of the supply chain, the impact of 

conflicting priorities, and the consequences of logistics decisions before 

implementation of the plan. By using LPAT, planners can define the range and scope 

of a logistical operation and predict the type and quantity of assets required for a 

particular response or recovery effort [ANL 2010]. 

OREMS Oak Ridge Evacuation Modeling System (OREMS) can be used to estimate 

evacuation time and to develop evacuation plans for different events or scenarios 

(e.g., good vs. bad weather conditions, day vs. nighttime evacuations) for user-defined 

spatial boundaries. The system permits experimentation with alternate routes, 

destinations, traffic control management strategies, and evacuee response rates. For 

every scenario it is possible to identify evacuation or clearance times, traffic 

operational characteristics (e.g., average evacuation speed), bottlenecks, and other 

information necessary to develop effective evacuation plans and to conduct 

transportation infrastructure vulnerability studies [ORNL 2010d]. 

PLAN C Planning with Large Agent-Networks against Catastrophes (PLAN C) is an agentbased simulation tool for emergency managers, urban planners and public health 

officials to prepare and evaluate Pareto-optimal plans to respond to urban catastrophic 

situations. PLAN C uses a large-scale computational multi-agent based disaster 

simulation framework involving thousands of agents. It has been able to simulate the 

complex dynamics of emergency responses in different urban catastrophic scenarios 

(e.g., chemical agent, bomb explosion, food poisoning, and smallpox). It can devise 

plans that optimize multiple objective functions (e.g., number of casualties, economic 

impact, time to recovery) in terms of their Pareto frontier in a high-dimensional space; 

for this purpose, it uses an evolutionary genetic search algorithm. It is designed to be 
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used and parameterized by relatively unsophisticated users. The technology can be 

transferred to any urban setting, to multiple computer platforms, and to different 

modes (offline or online) of planning [NYU 2009]. 

Play2Train Play2Train is a virtual training space in SecondLife designed to support Strategic 

National Stockpile (SNS), Simple Triage Rapid Transportation (START), Risk 

Communication and Incident Command System (ICS) training. This virtual 

environment, which currently comprises a town and two hospitals, spreads over three 

islands Asterix, Obelix and Getafix (65536 x 3 sq. meters). Play2Train provides 

opportunities for training through interactive role playing. This project implements 

one of the distance learning methodologies proposed by the Idaho Bioterrorism 

Awareness and Preparedness program (IBAPP) project [ISU 2010]. 

Restore Developed at ANL, Restore models complex sets of steps required to accomplish a 

goal, such as repairing a ruptured natural gas pipeline, when the time required to 

complete a step may be uncertain due to such factors as the time of day, weather, and 

availability of crew. Restore allows a user to estimate the time and cost (which may 

also be uncertain) needed to achieve an intermediate stage of completion, as well as 

overall completion. It can also model workarounds and a simultaneous complete 

repair to obtain a distribution for the earliest time until service (either temporary via 

the workaround or normal via complete repair, whichever comes first) can be 

restored. The tool also identifies the “most active path” through the network of tasks. 

It generates output graphs of probability distributions for overall and intermediate 

completion times [ANL 2011c]. 

Stadium The tool uses agent-based simulation to analyze mass egress following an improvised 

explosive device (IED) attack on a stadium. The results can be used to support new 

policy recommendations and training capabilities. The stadium model depicts PNC 

Park, the major-league baseball stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. Anti-IED countermeasures 

modeled include guidance to exits, egress onto the playing field, and shock- and 

shrapnel-absorbing baffles inside the spiral stairways that provide the largest-volume 

routes of egress. [Samuelson 2007][Redfish 2011] 

VISAC Visual Interactive Site Analysis Code (VISAC), developed at ORNL, is a Java-based 

expert system that provides mission planners with a coordinated capability to predict 

and analyze the outcomes of different accidents/incidents at various nuclear and 

industrial facilities. The incidents can range from simple individual equipment 

sabotage to complex sorties that utilize a range of military weapons, simulated truck 

or car bombs, or satchel charges. The target facility is generated by either customizing 

existing 3-D CAD models for near real-time analysis or creating a new model from 

scratch. Using event/fault tree methodology, VISAC provides the probability of 

facility kill, the probability of undesirable collateral effects (chemical or radiological 

releases), and an estimate of facility down time [ORNL 2010e]. 

C.4 – Healthcare Systems M&S Tools 

A number of healthcare and epidemic modeling tools have been developed through the efforts of federal 

agencies, universities, research organizations and commercial companies. This section lists existing tools 

that have been identified through Internet searches and site visits to organizations involved in M&S of 

healthcare systems. The tools are arranged alphabetically based on their developer’s acronyms, or in some 
135

cases, abbreviations assigned by the authors for purposes of the readability of this document. Similar to 

the previous sub-section, the focus is on models and tools for desktop simulation and virtual worlds, and 

virtual reality and visualization. 

Tool Acronym Brief Description 

Code Orange BreakAway developed a training simulation called ”Code Orange” for the 

Washington Hospital Center to train staff in the job roles they would have to assume 

in a mass casualty incident. Based on job descriptions and tasked outlined in the 

Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS) protocol, this simulation 

allows users to assume roles in triaging patients outside the hospital and inside the 

ER [Breakaway 2010b]. 

CVMDM Community Vaccination and Mass Dispensing Model (CVMDM) simulates the 

allocation and distribution of pharmaceutical materials across a jurisdiction and the 

dispensing of those materials through points of dispensing (PODs). Given a request 

time for initial supplies from the Center for Disease and Prevention Control’s 

Strategic National Stockpile, estimated resupply intervals, population size and age 

distribution, and POD personnel resources, the model calculates the estimated start 

time for public vaccinations, POD queue times and throughput, and operation 

closure. Linked with a disease progression submodel, CVMDM tracks and reports the 

number of infections and fatalities based on disease characteristics and the 

performance of prophylaxis supply logistics and PODs [ANL 2011e]. 

 

EDS ED Simulator (EDS) is a tool for Emergency Department throughput, staffing, patient 

flow, and efficiency analysis. EDS combines the power and analytical capabilities of 

simulation with database and data analysis technologies. It is designed to be used at 

the unit Manager level as a tool for ongoing process analysis, continuous process 

improvement, and accurate, objective internal benchmarking. It is based on 

MedModel simulation “engine” [ProModel 2010a]. 

Edsim Edsim is a semi-reusable product to quickly model and test alternative design 

scenarios for existing and proposed hospital emergency departments. It meets the 

needs of hospital administrators to improve Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), such 

as patient length of stay (LOS), bed utilization, elimination of bottlenecks, etc. 

Edsim is also useful for predicting performance of proposed emergency departments 

before finalizing architectural designs [Ferrin 2007]. 

EDSIM Emergency Department SIMulation (EDSIM) was developed through a cooperative 

effort involving the University of California, Davis, Medical Center (UCDMC) 

Department of Emergency Medicine and the UCDMC billing department using the 

Extend Suite v.5 modeling platform developed by Imagine-That, Inc. It provides 

modules that are connected by conduits that carry data elements representing 

patients, staff, orders, laboratory results, images, etc. It combines continually updated 

job queue prioritization and mid-task preemption capabilities that together allow the 

model to capture the chaotic nature of ED staff activity [Connelly 2004]. 

ED Simulation ED Simulation is a desktop application designed specifically for quickly modeling 

and simulating Emergency Departments. It reduces the programming by pre-building 

Emergency Department workflow processes. Its applications include: minimizing 
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patient waiting times and ED overcrowding, identifying workflow “bottlenecks,” 

evaluating the effect of patient arrival and symptom mix, and testing disaster 

preparedness scenarios [Loud Squirrel 2011]. 

EpiSimS The epidemic simulation engine, EpiSimS is a C++ application that runs on highperformance computing clusters. It is stochastic agent-based discrete event model 

that explicitly represents every person in a city, and every place within the city where 

people interact. A city or region is represented physically by a set of road segment 

locations and a set of business locations. EpiSimS can simulate various 

pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions, including panic-based stayhome behavior, therapeutic and prophylactic use of antivirals, contact tracing, 

vaccination, wearing of masks, social distancing behaviors (increased inter-personal 

separation, hand washing, cough etiquette, etc.), household quarantine, and closures 

of schools [LANL 2010b]. 

Flexsim 

Healthcare

Flexsim Healthcare is a 3D simulation tool with animation for medical facilities. Its 

features include drag and drop model building, healthcare object library, interfaces 

with commonly used databases and spreadsheets, statistics tracking, and a dashboard 

with dynamic charts and graphs. It has been used for modeling emergency room 

operations. [Flexsim 2011] 

GameTT Games For Team Training (GaMeTT) is an immersive avatar based, virtual 

environment designed for distributed medical team training. Participants log in to 

GaMeTT from their own office or homes to work collectively towards team training 

objectives, optimizing the time available for training and the opportunity for team 

interaction. GaMeTT utilizes game-based technology to produce visually engaging 

scenes, user-friendly interfaces, and intuitive user commands. The tool is suitable for 

distributed medical teams such as the Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) 

that are comprised of 35 volunteers who come together from different parts of the 

country to form a team in case of a disaster [MYMIC 2010b]. 

HMS Healthcare Modeling Studio. A simulation modeling solution, is used to build custom 

analysis tools for a variety of healthcare facilities, including emergency departments, 

operating rooms, admissions, clinical labs and ancillary services. The tool can be 

tailored to each client’s specific processes, organization, terminology and metrics, 

HMS helps healthcare professionals improve administrative and operational 

efficiency, reduce cost and maximize ROI, validate process change or facility 

expansion, and predict the impact of staffing changes or equipment upgrades [AAI 

2007]. 

LES Learning Environment Simulator (LES) developed at Los Alamos National Labs has 

been built as an interface to Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support 

System (CIPDSS). It is designed to engage decision makers at the grass-roots level 

(local/city/state), deepen their understanding of an evolving crisis, enhance intuition 

and let them test their own strategies. The initial version is based on a pandemic 

influenza outbreak and has been tested with a group of hospital administrators and 

first responders. LES is a simulated environment allowing the user to experience the 

complexities of a crisis before it happens, including impacts to critical infrastructures 

with their interdependencies and estimating human health & safety and economic 

impacts [LeClaire 2009]. 
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MEDMODEL MedModel is a simulation tool designed specifically for the healthcare industry for 

evaluation, planning and redesign of hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare systems. 

MedModel models can be used to identify inefficiencies in an existing process and 

test a variety of scenarios. Typical applications include: department specific 

productivity improvement, facilities design (labs, clinics, radiology, emergency 

rooms, etc.), planning for future changes, staff planning, analyzing patient capacity, 

equipment planning and logistical analysis, emergency preparedness, and bed 

capacity management [ProModel 2010b]. 

MUSTER MUSTER is a simulation tool for Multi-user Emergency Response training. 

MUSTER supports training of doctors, nurses, Paramedics, EMT’s, rescue workers, 

disaster medicine rescue teams and others in disaster medicine and management. The 

core of the training simulator is the patient model. Danish doctors have developed the 

model. It is able to simulate a patient’s condition dynamically based on the injuries 

and the treatment he receives. Patients in a scenario can be defined individually 

[IFAD 2011]. 

Optima Predict Optima Predict is an interactive strategic planning solution for emergency services 

that provides a platform for effective planning and simulation of requirements of 

resources such as ambulances. Optima Predict takes into account key performance 

indicators such as response times, vehicle types and coverage, shift rosters, post 

locations and hospital ramp times to enable users to quickly build scenarios that make 

logistical and business sense [Optima 2011]. 

PLAN C Planning with Large Agent-Networks against Catastrophes (PLAN C) is an agent 

based simulation tool for emergency managers, urban planners and public health 

officials to prepare and evaluate Pareto-optimal plans to respond to urban 

catastrophic situations. PLAN C has been used to simulate emergency responses in 

different urban catastrophic scenarios (e.g., chemical agent, bomb explosion, food 

poisoning, small pox). It can devise plans that optimize multiple objective functions 

(e.g., number of casualties, economic impact, time to recovery, etc.) in terms of their 

Pareto frontier in a high-dimensional space; for this purpose, it uses an evolutionary 

genetic search algorithm [NYU 2009]. 

 

RIPS Real-time Incident Preparedness Simulation developed by the SimGroup at the 

Center for the Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) is a 

training tool for emergency response personnel. It is an incident simulator with game 

like qualities and it provides a platform for creating disaster scenarios, sharing them, 

and then training on them with other professionals. It is based on the NIMS hierarchy 

[CIMIT 2002]. 

SimCare SimCare Process Simulator 9.0 is a process simulation software for the healthcare 

industry. SimCare pro healthcare simulation includes support for hospitals, clinics, 

and blood centers. It allows for importing CAD files for the facilities such as 

emergency departments, and historical data for rapid model development of the 

model [CreateASoft 2011]. 
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Appendix D – Relevant Standards and Guidelines 

This appendix lists standards and guidelines that may be used to develop or run homeland security models 

and simulations. The appendices are organized as follows: 

• D.1 – Domain-Independent Standards and Guidelines 

− D.1.1 – Conceptual Modeling Standards and Guidelines 

− D.1.2 – Distributed Simulation Standards and Guidelines 

− D.1.3 – Geographic Information System Standards and Guidelines 

− D.1.4 – Communication Standards and Guidelines 

− D.1.5 – Training System Standards and Guidelines 

− D.1.6 – 3D Modeling Standards and Guidelines 

• D.2 – Hazardous Material Release Standards and Guidelines 

• D.3 – Critical Infrastructure Standards and Guidelines 

• D.4 – Incident Management Standards and Guidelines 

• D.5 – Healthcare Systems Standards and Guidelines 

The name of standard or guideline, a brief description of its contents, type of standard or guideline,

responsible organization, as well a classification of the type of standard is given below. 

D.1 – Domain-Independent Standards and Guidelines 

D.1.1 – Conceptual Modeling Standards and Guidelines

Standard Title Overview 

Discrete Event System Specification 

(DEVS) 

Description: DEVS is a systems-theoretic approach to 

modeling. More specifically, it is state-centered formalism. A 

system consists of interconnected subsystems. A subsystem is a 

system. Leaf systems (atomic DEVSes) are state machines. 

DEVS can be viewed as a framework unifying a number of 

other formalisms in a consistent, systems theoretic, state 

centered fashion [DEVS 2011]. 

Standard Type: Specification 

Organization: Simulation Interoperability Standards 

Organization (SISO); Society for Modeling and Computer 

Simulation International (SCS) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Systems Modeling Language 

(SysML) 

Description: SysML is a general purpose modeling language for 

systems engineering applications. It is a dialect of UML, the 

industry standard for modeling software-intensive systems. It 

supports the specification, analysis, design, verification and 

validation of a broad range of systems and systems-of-systems. 

These systems may include hardware, software, information, 

processes, personnel, and facilities [OMG 2011]. 

Standard Type: SysML 1.2 

Organization: Object Management Group, Inc. (OMG) 

Classification: Document format 
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Unified Modeling Language (UML) Description: A graphical language for visualizing, specifying, 

constructing and documenting the artifacts of a softwareintensive system. The UML offers a standard way to write a 

system’s blueprints, including conceptual things such as 

business processes and system functions, as well as concrete 

things such as programming language statements, database 

schemas, and reusable software components [ANSI 2011c]. 

Standard Type: UML 2.0, UML 2.1.1; UML 2.1.2; UML 2.2; 

UML 2.3; ISO/IEC 19501:2004 

Organization: ISO; ANSI; Object Management Group, Inc. 

(OMG) 

Classification: Document format 

D.1.2 – Distributed Simulation Standards and Guidelines

Standard Title Overview 

Distributed Interactive Simulation Description: Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) is a 

government/industry initiative to define an infrastructure for 

linking simulations of various types at multiple locations to 

create realistic, complex, virtual worlds for the simulation of 

highly interactive activities. A series of IEEE standards to 

support information exchange between simulation applications 

participating in the DIS environment are defined. IEEE Std 

1278.1 defines the format and semantics of data messages, also 

known as Protocol Data Units (PDUs), that are exchanged 

between simulation applications and simulation management. 

IEEE Std 1278.2 defines the communication services required to 

support the message exchange described in IEEE Std 1278.1. 

IEEE 1278-3 provides guidelines for establishing a DIS 

exercise, managing the exercise, and providing proper feedback. 

IEEE 1278-4 establishes guidelines for the verification, 

validation, and accreditation (VV&A) of Distributed Interactive 

Simulation (DIS) exercises [IHS 2011a]. 

Standard Type: IEEE 1278-1993, IEEE 1278.1-1995, IEEE 

1278.1A-1998, IEEE-1278.2-1995, IEEE 1278.3-1996, IEEE 

1278.4-1997 

Organization: IEEE; IHS, Inc. 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Extensible Modeling and Simulation 

Framework (XMSF) 

Description: The Extensible Modeling and Simulation 

Framework (XMSF) is defined as a set of Web-based 

technologies and services, applied within an extensible 

framework, that enables a new generation of modeling & 

simulation (M&S) applications to emerge, develop and 

interoperate [DODCCRP 2011]. XMSF provides a framework 

which allows both Department of Defense (DoD) and non-DoD 

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) projects to take advantage of 

Web-based technologies. 
140

Standard Type: XMSF 1.0 

Organization: Naval Postgraduate School MOVES Institute; 

George Mason University NetLab; Science Applications 

International Corporation; Old Dominion University 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

High Level Architecture (HLA) Description: This standard defines the HLA, its components, 

and the rules that outline the responsibilities of HLA federates 

and federations to ensure a consistent implementation [IEEE 

2011c].

 Standard Type: IEEE 1516-2000, IEEE 1516.1-2000, 1516.2-

2000, ANSI/IEEE 1516.3-2003; IEEE 1516.4-2007 

Organization: IEEE/Simulation Interoperability Standards 

Organization (SISO); ANSI 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

D.1.3 – Geographic Information System Standards and Guidelines

Standard Title Overview 

American National Standard for 

Information Technology – 

Geographical Information Systems – 

Spatial Data Standard for Facilities, 

Infrastructure, and Environment 

(SDSFIE) 

Description: This standard provides a means to model and 

categorize real-world geographic phenomena of interest to the 

Facilities, Infrastructure, and Environment (FIE) Domain(s) into 

a set of geographic data that can be represented in a spatial 

database and presented to a user in digital form. This SDSFIE 

standard is intended to provide the enterprise spatial database 

schema to support multiple FIE applications. This National 

Standard is applicable to the federal, state, county, and city 

agencies; private companies; and any other organizations that 

perform AM & FM functions for facilities and other types of 

infrastructure (such as roads, waterways, utility systems, etc,) 

and/or perform environmental compliance, restoration, and/or 

pollution prevention activities [ANSI 2011a]. 

Standard Type: ANSI INCITS 353-2006 

Organization: American National Standards Institute (ANSI); 

International Committee for Information Technology Standards 

(INCITS) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

CityGML – Exchange and Storage of 

Virtual 3D City Models 

Description: A standard for the representation, storage, and 

exchange of virtual 3D city and landscape models. CityGML is 

implemented as an application schema of the Geography 

Markup Language version 3.1.1. It is based on a rich, general 

purpose information model in additional to geometry and 

appearance information. For specific domain areas, CityGML 

also provides an extension mechanism to enrich the data with 

identifiable features under preservation of semantic 

interoperability [OGC 2011a]. 

Standard Type: OGC 06-057r1; ISO TC211 
141

Organization: Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) Description: The standard is often referred to as the FGDC 

Metadata Standard. The objectives of the standard are to 

provide a common set of terminology and definitions for the 

documentation of digital geo-spatial data. The standard 

establishes the names of data elements and compound elements 

(groups of data elements) to be used for these purposes, the 

definitions of these compound elements and data elements, and 

information about the values that are to be provided for the data 

elements [FGDC 2011a]. 

Standard Type: FGDC-STD-001-1998; FGDC-STD-001.1-

1999; FGDC-STD-001.2-2001 

Organization: Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) – 

Extensions for Remote Sensing 

Metadata 

Description: The standard of Extensions for Remote Sensing 

Metadata standard provides a common terminology and set of 

definitions for documenting geo-spatial data obtained from 

remote sensing, within the framework of the FGDC Content 

Standard for Digital Geo-spatial Metadata (CSDGM) standard. 

The extensions provide a means to use standard FGDC content 

to describe geo-spatial data derived from remote sensing 

measurements. This standard is intended to support the 

collection and processing of geo-spatial metadata for data 

derived from remote sensing. It is intended to be used by all 

levels of government and the private sector [FGDC 2011b]. 

Standard Type: FGDC-STD-012-2002 

Organization: The Federal Geographic Data Committee 

(FGDC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

GeoAPI SWG Standard Description: The GeoAPI Standard Working Group (SWG) 

aims to create the GeoAPI 3.0 Standard, which will define a set 

of Java language interfaces along with an associated test suite, to 

provide a standardized, programming language level realization 

of some core Open Geo-spatial Consortium (OGC) 

specifications. These interfaces will facilitate the creation of 

accurate, coherent, interoperable, and verifiable implementations 

of those OGC standards [GEOAPI 2011].

Standard Type: OGC GeoAPI 3.0 SWG 

Organization: OGC 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Encoding Description: The standard specifies the requirements for 

defining encoding rules to be used for interchange of geographic 

data within the ISO 19100 series of International Standards [ISO 

2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 19118:2005 
142

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Locationbased services – Multimodal Routing 

and Navigation 

Description: The standard specifies the data types and their 

associated operations for the implementation of multimodal 

location-based services for routing and navigation. It is designed 

to specify web services that may be made available to wireless 

devices through web-resident proxy applications, but is not 

limited to that environment [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 19134:2007 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Locationbased Services – Tracking and 

Navigation 

Description: ISO 19133:2005 describes the data types, and 

operations associated with those types, for the implementation 

of tracking and navigation services. It is designed to specify web 

services that can be made available to wireless devices through 

web-resident proxy applications, but is not restricted to that 

environment [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 19133:2005 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Portrayal Description: The standard defines a schema describing the 

portrayal of geographic information in a form understandable by 

humans. It includes the methodology for describing symbols and 

mapping of the schema to an application schema. It does not 

include standardization of cartographic symbols, and their 

geometric and functional description [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 19117:2005 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – 

Procedures for Item Registration 

Description: ISO 19135:2005 specifies procedures to be 

followed in establishing, maintaining and publishing registers of 

unique, unambiguous and permanent identifiers, and meanings 

that are assigned to items of geographic information. In order to 

accomplish this purpose, ISO 19135:2005 specifies elements of 

information that are necessary to provide identification and 

meaning to the registered items and to manage the registration of 

these items [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: INCITS/ISO/IEC 19135-2005 

Organization: ISO; International Committee for Information 

Technology Standards (INCITS); International Electrotechnical 

Commission (IEC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Schema 

for Moving Features 

Description: The standard defines a method to describe the 

geometry of a feature that moves as a rigid body [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 19141:2008 
143

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Services Description: ISO 19119:2005 identifies and defines the 

architecture patterns for service interfaces used for geographic 

information, defines its relationship to the Open Systems 

Environment model, and presents geographic services taxonomy 

and a list of example geographic services placed in the services 

taxonomy. It also prescribes how to create a platform-neutral 

service specification, how to derive conformant platformspecific service specifications, and provides guidelines for the 

selection and specification of geographic services from both 

platform-neutral and platform-specific perspectives [ISO 

2011b]. 

Standard Type: INCITS/ISO 19119-2005 

Organization: ISO; International Committee for Information 

Technology Standards (INCITS) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information – Simple 

Feature Access 

Description: ISO 19125-1:2004 establishes a common 

architecture for geographic information and defines terms to use 

within the architecture. It also standardizes names and geometric 

definitions for Types for Geometry. INCITS/ISO 19125-2-2004 

specifies an Structured Query Language (SQL) schema that 

supports storage, retrieval, query and update of simple geospatial feature collections via the SQL Call Level Interface 

(SQL/CLI) and establishes an architecture for the 

implementation of feature tables. INCITS/ISO 19125-2-2004 

defines terms to use within the architecture of geographic 

information and defines a simple feature profile of ISO 19107. 

In addition, this part of ISO 19125:2004 describes a set of SQL 

Geometry Types together with SQL functions on those types. 

The Geometry Types and Functions described represent a profile 

of ISO 13249-3. INCITS/ISO 19125-2-2004 standardizes the 

names and geometric definitions of the SQL Types for 

Geometry and the names, signatures and geometric definitions 

of the SQL Functions for Geometry [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type : INCITS/ISO 19125-1-2004 ; INCITS/ISO 

19125-2-2004 

Organization: ISO; International Committee for Information 

Technology Standards (INCITS) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Geographic Information Framework 

Data Standard 

Description: The standard establishes common data 

requirements for the exchange of National Spatial Data 

Infrastructure (NSDI) framework data [FGDC 2011c]. 

Standard Type: FGDC-STD-014.0-2008; FGDC-STD-014.1-

2008; FGDC-STD-014.2-2008; FGDC-STD-014.3-2008; 

FGDC-STD-014.4-2008; FGDC-STD-014.5-2008; FGDC-STD014.6-2008; FGDC-STD-014.7-2008; FGDC-STD-014.7b2008; FGDC-STD-014.7c-2008; FGDC-STD-014.7d-2008; 
144

FGDC-STD-014.7e-2008 

Organization: Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

GeoTIFF Description: GeoTIFF is a metadata format, which provides 

geographic information to associate with the image data. 

GeoTIFF implements the geographic metadata formally, using 

compliant Tagged Image File (TIFF 6.0) tags and structures. 

“GeoTIFF” refers to TIFF files, which have geographic (or 

cartographic) data embedded as tags within the TIFF file. The 

geographic data can then be used to position the image in the 

correct location and geometry on the screen of a geographic 

information display [GEOTIFF 2011]. 

Standard Type: GeoTIFF/Revision 1.0 

Organization: geotiff.osgeo.org

Classification : Document format 

Governmental Unit and Other 

Geographic Area Boundaries 

Description: A specification for establishing of content 

requirements for the collection and interchange of Government 

units and legal entity boundary data and for facilitating the 

maintenance and use of that information [FGDC 2010].

Standard Type: FGDC-STD-014.5-2008 

Organization: Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

GRIdded Binary (GRIB) Description: Format specifications for representing 

meteorological, gridded-point data [WMO 2010a].

Standard Type: FM 92-IX Ext. GRIB; FM 92-VIII EXT. GRIB

Organization: World Meteorological Organization (WMO) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

Homeland Security Mapping 

Standard – Point Symbology for 

Emergency Management 

Description: The primary purpose of this standard is to 

establish a common set of symbols for use by mapmakers in 

support of emergency managers and first responders. It will 

allow users to rapidly interpret map data and to be able to 

disseminate consistent, usable information. This American 

National Standard is applicable to all organizations that create 

maps or otherwise display features for the Emergency 

Management or First Responder communities. It is limited at 

this time to support portrayal of point features that relate to the 

emergency management and hazard mapping disciplines [ANSI 

2011b]. 

Standard Type: ANSI INCITS 415-2006 

Organization: American National Standards Institute (ANSI); 

International Committee for Information Technology Standards 

(INCITS) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Keyhole Markup Language (KML) Description: This standard is about an XML grammar and file 

format for modeling and storing geographic features such as 
145

points, lines, images, and polygons for display in GIS 

applications. KML is focused on geographic visualization, 

including annotation of maps and images. Geographic

visualization includes not only the presentation of graphical data 

on the globe, but also the control of the user’s navigation in the 

sense of where to go and where to look [OGC 2011b]. 

Standard Type: KML 2.2-2007 

Organization: Google Inc.; Open Geo-spatial Consortium 

(OGC) 

Classification: Document format 

OpenGIS Implementation 

Specification for Geographic 

Information – Simple Feature Access 

Description: The OpenGIS Simple Features Interface Standard 

(SFS) provides a well-defined and common way for applications 

to store and access feature data in relational or object-relational 

databases, so that the data can be used to support other 

applications through a common feature model, data store and 

information access interface. OpenGIS Simple Features are geospatial features described using vector data elements such as 

points, lines, and polygons [OGC 2011c]. 

Standard Type: OGC 06-103r4 Version 1.2.1, OGC 05-126 

Organization: Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc (OGC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Schema for Coverage Geometry and 

Functions 

Description: The standard defines a conceptual schema for the 

spatial characteristics of coverage, which support mapping from 

a spatial, temporal or spatiotemporal domain to feature attribute 

values where feature attribute types are common to all 

geographic positions within the domain. A coverage domain 

consists of a collection of direct positions in a coordinate space 

that may be defined in terms of up to three spatial dimensions as 

well as a temporal dimension [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 19123: 2005

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Shapefiles (.shp) Description: A shapefile stores non-topological geometry and 

attribute information for the spatial features in a data set. The 

geometry for a feature is stored as a shape comprising a set of 

vector coordinates. A geo-spatial format provides users a 

graphical method to display geographic data. Shapefiles are a 

geo-spatial vector data format for geographic information 

systems software. Shapefiles spatially describe points, polygons, 

polylines. A “shapefile” commonly refers to a collection of files 

with “.shp”, “.shx”, “.dbf”, and other extensions on a common 

prefix name (i.e., “lakes.*”) [ESRI 2011a]. 

Standard Type: Industry specification 

Organization: Environmental Systems Research Institute 

(ESRI) 

Classification: Document format 
146

Spatial Data Modeling Language 

(SDML) 

Description: SDML format is very simple text, which provides 

for easy parsing and support for attribute information [UWA 

2011]. 

Standard Type: SDML 1.0 

Organization: Silicon Graphics 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Spatial Data Transfer Standard 

(SDTS) 

Description: The Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) base 

specification (Parts 1, 2 and 3) describes the underlying 

conceptual model and the detailed specifications for the content, 

structure, and format for exchange of spatial data. Additional 

parts (4, 5, 6 and potentially others) are added as profiles, each 

of which defines specific rules and formats for applying SDTS 

for the exchange of particular types of data [FGDC 2011d] 

Standard Type: FGDC-STD-002.1; FGDC-STD-002.5; FGDCSTD-002.6; FGDC-STD-002.7-2000 

Organization: Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Spatial Referencing by Coordinates Description: The standard defines the conceptual schema for 

the description of spatial referencing by coordinates, optionally 

extended to spatio-temporal referencing. It describes the 

minimum data required to define one-, two- and threedimensional spatial coordinate reference systems with an 

extension to merged spatial-temporal reference systems. It 

allows additional descriptive information to be provided. The 

part 2 of the standard, ISO 19111-2:2009, specifies the 

conceptual schema for the description of spatial referencing 

using parametric values or functions. It applies the schema of 

ISO 19111 to combine a position referenced by coordinates with 

a parametric value to form a spatio-parametric coordinate 

reference system (CRS). The spatio-parametric CRS can 

optionally be extended to include time [ISO 2011b].

Standard Type: ISO 19111: 2007; ISO 19111-2: 2009 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Standard for a U.S. National Grid 

(USNG) 

Description: A standard is used to define the U.S. National Grid

and supports Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) 

coordinates, Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) grids, and 

the specific grid presentation requirements. It is used for 

acquisition/production of printed map and acquisition of 

location service appliances with printed map products [FGDC 

2011e] 

Standard Type: FGDC-STD-011-2001 

Organization: Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Standard Representation of 

Geographic Point Location by 

Description: The standard is a representation of latitude, 

longitude and altitude for geographic point locations. The order 
147

Coordinates of the elements is the latitude, the longitude and the altitude. 

Representation includes units of measure and coordinate order 

[ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 6709:2008 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Topologically Integrated Geographic 

Encoding and Referencing 

/Geography Markup Language 

(TIGER/GML) 

Description: A GML (an OGC specification for encoding 

geographic features in XML) data format for TIGER 

(Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and 

Referencing) data is a standards-based alternative to the 

TIGER/Line format. The TIGER/Line files are extracts of 

selected geographic and cartographic information from the 

Census Bureau’s TIGER database. TIGER/GML data can be 

viewed as JPEG, PNG, and TIFF images and SVG maps [OGC 

2011d]. 

Standard Type: TIGER/GML v3.0 

Organization: Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc (OGC); U.S. 

Census Bureau 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Vector Product Format (VPF) Description: A format, structure, and organization for large 

geographic databases that are based on a geo-relational data 

model and are intended for direct use [MIL 2010]. 

Standard Type: MIL-STD-2407

Organization: National Geo-spatial-Intelligence Agency

Classification: General purpose Integration Interfaces 

Web Coverage Service (WCS) Description: Web Coverage Service (WCS) defines a standard 

interface and operations that enables interoperable access to geospatial coverage that refers to content such as satellite images, 

digital aerial photos, digital elevation data, and other phenomena 

represented by values at each measurement point [OGC 2011e]. 

Standard Type: OGC WCS 2.0 Interface Standard, WCS 

Implementation Standard 1.1.2 

Organization: The Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc (OGC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Web Feature Service (WFS) Description: This specification describes the Web Feature 

Service (WFS) operations. The WFS operations support 

INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, LOCK, QUERY and 

DISCOVERY operations on geographic features using HTTP as 

the distributed computing platform. In the context of this 

specification, a transaction is a logical unit of work that is 

composed of one or more data manipulation operations [OGC 

2011f]. 

Standard Type: OpenGIS WFS Implementation Specification, 

Version 1.1.0; OpenGIS WFS Interface Standard Version 2.0; 

ISO 19142 

Organization: The Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc (OGC); 
148

ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Web Map Service (WMS) Description: The specification provides a simple HTTP 

interface for requesting geo-registered map images from one or 

more distributed geo-spatial databases. A WMS request defines 

the geographic layer(s) and area of interest to be processed. The 

response to the request is one or more geo-registered map 

images (returned as JPEG, PNG, etc) that can be displayed in a 

browser application. The interface also supports the ability to 

specify whether the returned images should be transparent so 

that layers from multiple servers can be combined or not [OGC 

2011g]. 

Standard Type: OpenGIS WMS Implementation Specification 

Version 1.3.0; ISO 19128:2005 

Organization: The Open Geo-spatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC); 

ISO 

Classification: Document format 

D.1.4 – Communication Standards and Guidelines

Standard Title Overview 

Caltech-USGS Broadcast of 

Earthquakes (CUBE) Message 

Format 

Description: A message format used to report earthquake 

broadcast message from the Caltech-USGS Broadcast of 

Earthquakes (CUBE) system, a real-time notification system for 

earthquake information. CUBE message consists of an

identification segment, earthquake’s time, location, magnitude, 

depth, etc. [USGS 2011a]. 

Standard Type: Government specification 

Organization: California Institute of Technology Seismological 

Laboratory (Caltech); United States Geological Survey (USGS) 

Classification: Document format 

Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Description: The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a simple, 

flexible data interchange format for collecting and distributing 

“all-hazard” safety notifications and emergency warnings over 

information networks and public alerting systems. In Webservices applications, CAP provides a lightweight standard for 

exchanging urgent notifications. CAP can also be used in databroadcast applications and over legacy data networks. CAP is 

fully compatible with the existing national broadcast Emergency 

Alert System (EAS) [OASIS 2011a]. It is an XML-related data 

interchange standard for alerting and event notification 

applications. The standard supports two functions: a standalone 

protocol and a payload for Emergency Data Exchange Language 

(EDXL) messages. 

Standard Type: CAP-V1.1 

Organization: Organization for the Advancement of Structured 
149

Information Standards (OASIS) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Common Incident Management 

Message Sets for use by Emergency 

Management Centers 

Description: This standard is the Base Standard for a family of 

related standards that address the intercommunication needs of 

emergency management centers and other types of centers 

engaged in transportation incident management [IEEE 2010]. 

Standard Type: IEEE 1512-2000, IEEE 1512.1, IEEE 1512.2, 

IEEE 1512.3 

Organization: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 

(IEEE) 

Classification: Document Format 

Emergency Data Exchange 

Language (EDXL) 

Description: Several organizations are collaborating on the 

design and development of a suite of specifications under the 

name “Emergency Data Exchange Language (EDXL)” [OASIS 

2011b]. EDXL is an integrated framework for a wide range of 

emergency data exchange standards to support operations, 

logistics, planning, and finance. 

Standard Type: EXDL Distribution Element, V. 1.0 (EDXLDE-V1.0); EDXL Resource Message Specification 1.0 Working 

Draft Version 26 (EDXL-RM 1.0 v0026); EDXL Hospital

Availability Exchange v1.0 Public Review Draft 02 (EDXLHAVE-1.0-spec-pr02) 

Organization: Organization for the Advancement of Structured 

Information Standards (OASIS); Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS); Emergency Interoperability Consortium (EIC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

National Information Exchange 

Model (NIEM) 

Description: NIEM is designed to develop, disseminate and 

support enterprise-wide information exchange standards and 

processes that can enable jurisdictions to effectively share 

critical information in emergency situations, as well as support 

the day-to-day operations of agencies throughout the Nation 

[NIEM 2011].

Organization: A partnership of the U.S. Department of Justice, 

the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services. 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

D.1.5 – Training System Standards and Guidelines 

Standard Title Overview 

Sharable Content Object Reference 

Model (SCORM) 

Description: SCORM is an XML-based framework used to 

define and access information about learning objects so they can 

be easily shared among different learning management systems 

(LMSs). SCORM was developed in response to a United States 

Department of Defense (DoD) initiative to promote 
150

standardization in e-learning. SCORM integrates a set of related 

technical standards, specifications, and guidelines designed to 

meet SCORM’s high-level requirements—accessible, 

interoperable, durable, and reusable content and systems. 

SCORM content can be delivered to your learners via any 

SCORM-compliant LSM using the same version of SCORM

[ADL 2011]. 

Standard Type: SCORM 1.1, SCORM 1.2, SCORM 1.3 

Organization: U. S. Department of Defense (DoD) 

Classification: Document format 

D.1.6 – 3D Modeling Standards and Guidelines 

Standard Title Overview 

The Collaborative Design Activity 

(COLLADA) 

Description: COLLADA is for establishing an open standard 

digital asset schema for interactive 3D applications [COLLADA 

2011]. The schema supports all the features that modern 3D 

interactive applications need including programmable shade 

effects and physics simulation. 

Standard Type: COLLADA 1.4.0

Organization: The Khronos Group 

Classification: Document format 

Virtual Reality Modeling Language 

(VRML) 

Description: VRML is a proposed design based on the Silicon 

Graphics Open Inventor ASCII file format. VRML is a language 

for describing multi-participant interactive simulations – virtual 

worlds networked via the global Internet and hyper-linked with 

the World Wide Web. All aspects of virtual world display, 

interaction and internetworking can be specified using VRML. It 

is the intention of its designers that VRML become the standard 

language for interactive simulation within the World Wide Web 

[WEB3D 2011a]. 

Standard Type: VRML 1.0 

Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

X3D Description: X3D is a royalty-free open standards file format 

and run-time architecture to represent and communicate 3D 

scenes and objects using XML. It is an ISO ratified standard that 

provides a system for the storage, retrieval and playback of real 

time graphics content embedded in applications, all within an 

open architecture to support a wide array of domains and user 

scenarios [WEB3D 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO/IEC 19774:2006 (Humanoid Animation); 

ISO/IEC 19775-1:2008 (Architecture and base components); 

ISO/IEC 19775-2:2010 (Scene access interface); ISO/IEC 

19776-1:2009 (XML encoding); NEN-ISO/IEC 19776-2:2008 

en (Classic VRML encoding); ISO/IEC 19776-3.2:2010 
151

(Compressed binary encoding); ISO/IEC 19777-1:2005

(ECMAScript binding); ISO/IEC 19777-2:2006 (Java binding) 

Organization: The Web3D Consortium 

Classification: Document format 

D.2 – Hazardous Material Release Standards and Guidelines 

This section identifies standards and guidelines that are potentially relevant to the development of 

hazardous material release models and simulations. The standards and guidelines may include 

mechanisms and formats for the interchange of data, data storage, generation of information displays, 

integration of systems, and/or conceptualization and design of hazardous material release models and 

simulations. 

Standard Title Overview 

After a Terrorist Bombing: Health 

and Safety Information for the 

General Public 

Description: Federal, state, and local officials are working 

together to help people who have been affected by the blast and 

will provide updated information as soon as they learn more. 

This document contains “Immediately after the event” and 

“Hours or days after the event” [CDC 2010a]. 

Standard type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Air Quality – Exchange of Data Description: A general air quality data format for direct data 

import and condensed air quality data format for file exchange 

[ANSI 2010].

Standard Type: ISO 7168-1:1999; ISO 7168-2:1999

Organization: International Organization for Standardization 

(ISO), and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

Airborne instrumentation for 

measurement of terrestrial gamma 

radiation 

Description: Applies to airborne radiation detection systems 

used in geologic mapping, in regional and local prospecting for 

uranium mineralization and for locating and monitoring manmade changes in environmental radioactivity [IEC 2011]. 

Standard type: IEC 61134 Ed. 1.0 b:1992 

Organization: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

American National Standard for 

Training Requirements for 

Homeland Security Purposes Using 

Radiation Detection Instrumentation 

for Interdiction and Prevention 

Description: This standard describes training requirements for 

U.S. Homeland Security purposes using radiation detection 

instrumentation for interdiction and prevention [ANSI 2010]. 

Standard Type: ANSI N42.37-2006 

Organization: American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Binary Universal Form for Data 

Representation of Meteorological 

Description: Format specifications for representing 

meteorological, non-grid-point data (alphanumeric text) [ANSI 
152

Data (BUFR) 2010].

Standard Type: FM94 BUFR; FM 94-IX EXT. BUFR

Organization: World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and 

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

Casualty Management After 

Detonation of a Nuclear Weapon in 

an Urban Area 

Description: Immediate actions for first responders when a 

nuclear weapon has been detonated in an urban area. This 

document contains recommended immediate actions for police 

officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians who 

may be faced with the detonation of a nuclear weapon in a 

populated area [CDC 2010b]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Communicating in the First Hours 

for Anthrax: Short and Extended 

Messages 

Description: Public health officials can use these short and 

extended messages during the first hours after a suspected 

anthrax emergency. The short messages include essential 

information to help minimize the immediate risk to the public 

from an attack. The extended messages also include general 

information that can be used as a resource for officials in 

developing messages tailored to a specific situation [CDC 

2010c]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Digital Weather Markup Language 

(DWML) 

Description: An XML-based language for retrieving data from 

the NWS digital forecast database [NWS 2010a].

Standard Type: Government specification

Organization: National Weather Service (NWS)

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

Emergency Response Cards Description: Detailed tables describing the necessary PPE & 

actions for different types of exposure to each agent [CDC 

2010d]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

ESRI Shapefile Technical 

Description 

Description: A geo-spatial vector data format for geographic 

information systems software [ESRI 2010]. 

Standard Type: Industry specification

Organization: Environmental Systems Research Institute 

(ESRI)

Classification: Document formats 
153

Facts About the Laboratory 

Response Network 

Description: Description of the network of labs that respond to 

biological & chemical terrorism. In 1999, the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the 

Laboratory Response Network (LRN). The LRN’s purpose is to 

run a network of labs that can respond to biological and 

chemical terrorism, and other public health emergencies. The 

LRN has grown since its inception. It now includes state and 

local public health, veterinary, military, and international labs. 

This fact sheet provides a brief description of the LRN, and how 

it works [CDC 2010s]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Fire Protection Guide to Hazardous 

Materials 

Description: A guide on how to safely store and handle 

chemicals and respond to emergencies quickly and effectively. 

This resource provides three comprehensive indexes so the users 

can access information by chemical name, synonym, or CAS 

number. You’ll have information about the full range of 

chemicals, plus National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 30 

or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 

classifications for flammable and combustible liquids [NFPA 

2011]. 

Standard Type: 2001 Edition 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Flexible Image Transport System 

(FITS) 

Description: A data format designed to provide a means for 

convenient exchange of astronomical data between installations 

whose standard internal formats and hardware differ. It is used 

for the transport, analysis, and archival storage of scientific data 

sets [NASA 2010a].

Standard Type: Government specification 

Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA)

Classification: Document formats 

Guidance Documentation – 

Dispersion Modeling of Toxic 

Pollutants in Urban Areas 

Description: Guidance related to air pollution and air quality 

management [EPA 2010d]. 

Standard Type: EPA-454/R-99-021 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Guidance for Protecting Building 

Environments from Airborne 

Chemical, Biological, or 

Radiological Attacks 

Description: This document identifies actions that a building 

owner or manager can implement without undue delay to 

enhance occupant protection from an airborne chemical, 

biological, or radiological attack [CDC 2010f]. 
154

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The National Institute for Occupational Safety & 

Health (NIOSH), The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Guidance on the Application of 

Refined Dispersion Models to 

Hazardous/Toxic Air Pollutant 

Releases 

Description: Guidance related to air pollution and air quality 

management [EPA 2010e].

Standard Type: EPA-454/R-93-002

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Guidance on the Development, 

Evaluation, and Application of 

Environmental Models 

Description: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

uses a wide range of models 

(http://www.epa.gov/osp/crem/library/whitman.PDF) to make 

informed decisions that support its mission of protecting human 

health and safeguarding the natural environment – air, water, 

and land – upon which life depends. This guidance provides 

recommendations for the effective development, evaluation, and 

use of models in environmental decision making once an 

environmental issue has been identified. This guidance 

recommends best practices to help determine when a model, 

despite its uncertainties, can be appropriately used to inform a 

decision [EPA 2009]. 

Standard Type: EPA/100/K-09/003 

Organization: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Guide for Fire and Explosion 

Investigations 

Description: The Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations is 

designed to assist individuals who are charged with the 

responsibility of investigating and analyzing fire and explosion 

incidents and rendering opinions as to the origin, cause, 

responsibility, or prevention of such incidents [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 921-2008 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Guide for the selection of Personal 

Protective Equipment for Emergency 

First Responders 

Description: A guidance intended to be useful to the emergency 

first responder community in the selection of personal protective 

equipment (PPE) [NCJRS 2010]. 

Standard Type: National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Guide 102-

00

Organization: National Institute of Justice

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Hazardous Substances Emergency 

Events Surveillance (HSEES) 

Description: Collects & analyzes info about acute releases of 

hazardous substances that need to be cleaned up or neutralized 

according to federal, state, or local law, as well as threatened 

releases that result in a public health action such as an 
155

evacuation. The Hazardous Substances Emergency Events 

Surveillance (HSEES) system was established by the Agency for 

Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to collect and 

analyze information about acute releases of hazardous 

substances and threatened releases that result in a public health 

action such as an evacuation. The goal of HSEES is to reduce 

the morbidity (injury) and mortality (death) that result from 

hazardous substances events, which are experienced by first 

responders, employees, and the general public [CDC 2010g]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Hierarchical Data Format-Earth 

Observing System (HDF-EOS) 

Description: HDF is a format for prescribing standard data 

products that are derived from EOS missions [NSIDC 2010].

Standard Type: Government specification

Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA)

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

Interim Recommendations for 

Firefighters & Other First 

Responders for the Selection & Use 

of Protective Clothing & Respirators 

Against Biological Agents 

Description: The approach to any potentially hazardous 

atmosphere, including biological hazards, must be made with a 

plan that includes an assessment of hazard and exposure 

potential, respiratory protection needs, entry conditions, exit 

routes, and decontamination strategies. Any plan involving a 

biological hazard should be based on relevant infectious disease 

or biological safety recommendations by the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention (CDC) and other expert bodies including 

emergency first responders, law enforcement, and public health 

officials. The need for decontamination and for treatment of all 

first responders with antibiotics or other medications should be 

decided in consultation with local public health authorities. This 

INTERIM STATEMENT is based on current understanding of 

the potential threats and existing recommendations issued for 

biological aerosols [CDC 2010h]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Long Term Structure of the IAEA 

(International Atomic Energy 

Agency) Safety Standards and 

Current Status 

Description: The long-term set of Safety Standards includes 

unified Safety Fundamentals (SF1), General Safety 

Requirements (GSR) in seven parts applicable to all facilities 

and activities with a graded approach, and complemented by a 

set of six facilities and activities Specific Safety Requirements 

(SSRs). The Safety Requirements are implemented through a set 

of general and specific safety guides [IAEA 2010]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 
156

Managing Hazardous Material 

Incidents (MHMIs) 

Description: The Managing Hazardous Material Incidents

(MHMIs) series was developed to provide emergency medical 

services (EMS) personnel and hospital emergency departments 

(EDs) with the necessary guidance to plan for, and improve their 

ability to respond to, incidents that involve human exposure to 

hazardous materials. The guidelines inform emergency 

personnel how to appropriately decontaminate, treat, and 

recommend follow-up care to exposed persons, as well as take 

measures to protect themselves. The MHMI series contain 3 

volumes: “Emergency medical services: A planning guide for 

the management of contaminated patients;” “Hospital 

emergency departments: A planning guide for the management 

of contaminated patients;” and “Medical management guidelines 

(MMGs) for acute chemical exposures” [ATSDR 2010].

Standard Type: ATSDR MHMIs Version 2001 

Organization: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Medical Management Guidelines for 

Chemical Agents 

Description: The document provides a list of chemical medical 

management guidelines for Ammonia, Arsine (SA), Benzene, 

Chlorine (CL), Cyanide, Cyanogen chloride (CK), Ethylene 

glycol, Hydrogen cyanide (AC), Lewisite (L, L-1, L-2, L-3), 

Mustard gas (H), Nitrogen mustard (HN-1, HN-2, HN-3), 

Phosgene (CG), Phosphine, Potassium cyanide (KCN), Sarin 

(GB), and Sodium cyanide (NaCN), etc. [CDC 2010i]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Medical Management Guidelines for 

Unidentified Chemicals 

Description: Basic victim management recommendations to 

follow when the chemical is not known [CDC 2010i]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

NARSTO Data Exchange Standard 

(DES) format 

Description: A data exchange format for evaluation, analyses, 

and sharing NARSTO data including air chemistry, 

meteorological, and related atmospheric data, and metadata 

[ORNL 2010c]. 

Standard Type: Industry specification 

Organization: NARSTO (formerly North American Research 

Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

National Ambient Air Quality 

Standards (NAAQS) 

Description: There are two types of national air quality 

standards: Primary standards set limits to protect public health, 
157

including the health of “sensitive” populations such as 

asthmatics, children, and the elderly. Secondary standards set 

limits to protect public welfare, including protection against 

decreased visibility, damage to animals, crops, vegetation, and 

buildings [EPA 2010f].

Standard Type: Government Specification 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

NFPA Standard Classifications for 

Incident Reporting and Fire 

Protection Data 

Description: A specification that provides a common language 

and definitions to define and describe pre-incident

environments, fire and other emergency incidents, post-incident 

damage assessments, and fire service data [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA-901

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interfaces 

NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical 

Hazards (NIOSH) 

Description: The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards 

(NPG) is intended as a source of general industrial hygiene 

information on several hundred chemicals/classes for workers, 

employers, and occupational health professionals. The NPG 

does not contain an analysis of all pertinent data, rather it 

presents key information and data in abbreviated or tabular form 

for chemicals or substance groupings (e.g., cyanides, fluorides, 

manganese compounds) that are found in the work environment. 

The information found in the NPG should help users recognize 

and control occupational chemical hazards [CDC 2010j]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The National Institute for Occupational Safety & 

Health(NIOSH) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Population Monitoring in Radiation 

Emergencies: A Guide for State and 

Local Public Health Planners 

Description: Population monitoring is the process of 

identifying, screening, and monitoring people for exposure to 

radiation or contamination from radioactive materials. This 

planners’ guide presents an introduction to population 

monitoring in radiation emergencies for public health officials 

and emergency preparedness planners at the state and local 

levels. It describes how to plan for population monitoring and 

provides practical suggestions to address the many challenges it 

presents when a large population is potentially impacted [CDC 

2010k]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Public Health Response to 

Biological & Chemical Terrorism: 

Interim Planning Guidance for State 

Description: This Planning Guidance is designed to help state 

public health officials determine the roles of their departments in 

response to biological and chemical terrorism and to understand 
158

Public Health Officials the emergency response roles of local health departments and 

the emergency management system. The Planning Guidance 

also can be used to help state health departments coordinate their 

efforts with the many agencies and organizations at all levels of 

government that ultimately would respond to a biological or 

chemical terrorism event [CDC 2010l]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Recognition of Illness Associated 

with the Intentional Release of a 

Biologic Agent 

Description: Provides guidance for healthcare providers & 

public health personnel about recognizing illnesses or patterns of 

illness that might be associated with intentional release of 

biologic agents [CDC 2010m]. 

Standard Type: MMWR 2001 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Roundtable on Population 

Monitoring Following a 

Nuclear/Radiological Incident 

Description: Recommendations & comments from participants 

in CDC’s roundtable (Jan. 11-12, 2005) on challenges associated 

with monitoring people affected by a nuclear or radiological 

incident [CDC 2010n]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

SEDRIS Technologies Description: SEDRIS is an infrastructure technology that 

enables information technology applications to express, 

understand, share, and reuse environmental data. SEDRIS 

technologies provide the means to represent environmental data 

(terrain, ocean, air, and space), and promote the unambiguous, 

loss-less, and on-proprietary interchange of environmental data. 

SEDRIS technologies have been assembled into the 

specifications and associated language bindings that include: 

SEDRIS functional specification, SEDRIS abstract transmittal 

format, SEDRIS transmittal format binary encoding, SEDRIS 

language binding, Spatial Reference Model (SRM), the 

Environmental Data Coding Specification (EDCS), EDCS 

language bindings, and SRM binding. Relies on its five core 

technology components. These are the SEDRIS Data 

Representation Model (DRM), the Environmental Data Coding 

Specification (EDCS), the Spatial Reference Model (SRM), the 

SEDRIS interface specification (API), and the SEDRIS 

Transmittal Format (STF) [SEDRIS 2011a]. 

Standard Type: ISO/IEC 18023-1; ISO/IEC 18023-2; ISO/IEC 

18023-3; ISO/IEC 18024-4; ISO/IEC 18025; ISO/IEC 18026; 

ISO/IEC 18041-4; ISO/IEC 18042-4 

Organization: ISO/IEC; SEDRIS 
159

Classification: Document format and Domain-specific 

integration interface 

Sheltering in Place during a 

Radiation Emergency 

Description: This action is called “sheltering in place.” Because 

many radioactive materials rapidly decay and dissipate, staying 

in your home for a short time may protect you from exposure to 

radiation. The walls of your home may block much of the 

harmful radiation. Taking a few simple precautions can help you 

reduce your exposure to radiation. The Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention has prepared this fact sheet to help you 

protect yourself and your family and to help you prepare a safe 

and well-stocked shelter [CDC 2010o]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Standard for Competence of 

Responders to Hazardous 

Materials/Weapons of Mass 

Destruction Incidents 

Description: The standard identifies the minimum levels of 

competence required by responders to emergencies involving 

hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It is 

based on the operational philosophies that emergency 

responders should be trained to perform their expected tasks, 

and that a responder cannot safely and effectively respond to a 

terrorism or criminal scenario involving hazmats/WMD if they 

don’t first understand basic hazardous materials response 

[NFPA 2010]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 472-2008 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard for Competencies for 

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) 

Personnel Responding to Hazardous 

Materials/Weapons of Mass 

Destruction Incidents 

Description: Expanded coverage in the 2008 NFPA 473 

includes qualifications for EMS responders to terrorism 

incidents that involve hazardous materials. NFPA 473: Standard 

for Competencies for EMS Personnel Responding to Hazardous 

Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents identifies the 

levels of competence required of emergency medical services 

(EMS) personnel who respond to hazardous materials incidents. 

It specifically covers the requirements for Basic Life Support 

(BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) personnel in the prehospital setting. The 2008 edition of NFPA 473 has been retitled and completely rewritten to address the hazards that 

emergency medical services (EMS) personnel encounter from 

hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction. New 

definitions and technical information have been added. The 

requirements in the 2008 edition will enhance the safety and 

protection of response personnel and all components of the EMS 

system [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard type: NFPA 473-2008 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 
160

Standard Guide for Application of 

Engineering Controls to Facilitate 

Use or Redevelopment of ChemicalAffected Properties 

Description: This guide presents general considerations for 

application of engineering controls to facilitate continued use or 

redevelopment of properties containing chemical-affected soil, 

groundwater, or other environmental media, due either to 

chemical releases or naturally-occurring conditions [ASTM 

2011]. 

Standard type: E2435 – 05 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Assessing the 

Hazard of a Material to Aquatic 

Organisms and Their Uses 

Description: This guide describes a stepwise process for using 

information concerning the biological, chemical, physical, and 

toxicological properties of a material to identify adverse effects 

likely to occur to aquatic organisms and their uses as a result of 

release of the material to the environment [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: E1023 – 84(2007) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Assessing the 

Health Hazard of Pesticides to 

Applicators and Others with 

Potential Exposure 

Description: This guide covers a stepwise process for using 

information concerning biological, chemical, physical, and 

toxicological properties of a pesticide or other chemical(s), or of 

a formulation to identify adverse effects that may occur to 

pesticide applicators or others with potential exposure [ASTM 

2011]. 

Standard type: E1429 – 91(2004) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Chemical Fate in 

Site-Specific Sediment/Water 

Microcosms 

Description: This guide provides procedures and criteria for the

development and use of sediment/water microcosms for 

laboratory evaluations of the fate of chemical substances in the 

environment [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: E1624 – 94(2008) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Collecting 

Treatment Process Design Data at a 

Contaminated Site-A Site 

Contaminated With Chemicals of 

Interest 

Description: This guide lists the physical and chemical 

treatment processes design data needed to evaluate, select, and 

design treatment processes for remediation of contaminated sites 

[ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: D7294 – 06 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Containment of 

Hazardous Material Spills by 

Emergency Response Personnel 

Description: This guide describes methods to contain the spread 

of hazardous materials that have been discharged into the 

environment [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: F1127 – 07 
161

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Health and 

Safety Training of Oil Spill 

Responders in the United States 

Description: This guide establishes minimum health and safety 

training standards for three types of oil spill responders: Type 

A, first responders who are responsible for initial containment 

and cleanup; Type B, longer-term shoreline cleanup personnel; 

and Type C, other necessary support personnel who have 

minimal contact with the contamination [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: F1656 – 01 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for In-Situ Burning 

of Oil in Ships or Other Vessels 

Description: This guide covers the use of in-situ burning 

directly in ships and other vessels. This guide is not applicable 

to in-situ burning of oil on sea or land [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: F2533 – 07 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for In-Situ Burning 

of Oil Spills on Water: 

Environmental and Operational 

Considerations 

Description: This guide covers the use of in-situ burning to 

assist in the control of oil spills on water. This guide is not 

applicable to in-situ burning of oil on land [ASTM 2011]-. 

Standard type: F1788 – 08 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Risk-Based 

Corrective Action Applied at 

Petroleum Release Sites 

Description: This is a guide to risk-based corrective action 

(RBCA), which is a consistent decision-making process for the 

assessment and response to a petroleum release, based on the 

protection of human health and the environment [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: E1739 – 95(2002) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard on Protective Ensembles 

for First Responders to CBRN 

Terrorism Incidents 

Description: It establishes the minimum requirements for the 

design, performance, testing, documentation, and certification of 

protective ensembles and ensemble elements for protection of 

emergency first responder personnel from chemicals, biological 

agents, and radiological particulate (CBRN) terrorism agents 

[NFPA 2011]. 

Standard type: NFPA 1994-2007 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Standard on Vapor-Protective 

Ensembles for Hazardous Materials 

Emergencies 

Description: It provides requirements for the highest level of 

protection for emergency responders to hazardous materials 

incidents where an unknown threat, a vapor threat, or a chemical 

or biological terrorism WMD threat is present or expected. 
162

Criteria address design, performance, certification, and 

documentation requirements [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1991-2005 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Standard Practice for Determination 

of Hydrolysis Rate Constants of 

Organic Chemicals in Aqueous 

Solutions 

Description: This practice describes specific procedures for 

obtaining solution hydrolysis rate constants and half-lives of 

organic chemicals that may enter the aquatic environment 

[ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: E895 – 89(2008) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Practice for Radiological 

Emergency Response 

Description: This practice provides decision-making 

considerations for response to incidents that involve radioactive 

materials. It provides information and guidance for what to 

include in response planning, and what activities to conduct 

during a response. The scope of this standard does not explicitly 

consider response to improvised nuclear devices (INDs) or 

nuclear power plant accidents. It does not expressly address 

emergency response to contamination of food or water supplies. 

This practice applies to those emergency response agencies that 

have a role in the response to a radiological incident, excluding 

an IND incident. It should be used in emergency services 

response such as law enforcement, fire department, and 

emergency medical response actions. This practice assumes that 

implementation begins with the recognition of a radiological 

incident and ends when emergency response actions cease or the 

response is assumed by specialized regional, state, or federal 

response teams [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard type: ASTM E2601-08 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

D.3 – Critical Infrastructure Standards and Guidelines 

Standard Title Overview 

Building Escape and Evacuation 

Plans 

Description: The standard establishes design principles for 

displayed escape plans that provide information vital to fire 

safety, escape, evacuation, and rescue of a facility’s occupants. 

These plans may also be used by intervention forces in case of 

terrorist attack [ISO 2011a]. 

Standard Type: ISO 23601:2009 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Operational guidelines 
163

Center-to-Center (C2C) Naming 

Convention Specification 

Description: This standard provides a standard way for 

transportation management centers to uniquely name entities for 

which data are exchanged with other centers. It also lists the 

requirements for establishing names for management systems 

and for the objects managed by those systems [NTCIP 2011]. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1104:2008 Version 01.09 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Common Incident Management 

Message Sets for use by Emergency 

Management Centers (IEEE 1512 

Family of Standards) 

Description: An IEEE Family of standards for traffic incident 

management that provides incident management message sets 

common to traffic management, public safety, and hazardous 

materials incident response activities. The standards address the 

intercommunication needs of emergency management centers 

and other types of centers engaged in transportation incident 

management [IEEE 2011a]. 

Standard Type: IEEE 1512-2006; IEEE 1512.1-2003; IEEE 

1512.2-2004; IEEE 1512.3-2006 

Organization: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 

(IEEE); Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Communicable Disease Surveillance 

and Response Systems: A Guide to 

Planning 

Description: This planning guide is to assist Member States to 

develop and/or refine comprehensive and cohesive plans for 

implementing and strengthening surveillance and response 

systems. It is anticipated that planners at all levels of the health 

system will find this guide useful as a general framework for 

developing a vision, strategies and routine operational plans for 

strengthening surveillance and response systems [WHO 2011a]. 

Standard Type: WHO/CDS/EPR/LYO/2006.1 

Organization: The World Health Organization (WHO) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Communicable Disease Surveillance 

and Response Systems: Guide to 

Monitoring and Evaluating 

Description: This guide is to support implementation of 

monitoring and evaluation of communicable disease surveillance 

and response systems at country level. It was reviewed by 

experts in communicable disease surveillance and response 

systems, and pre-tested in Estonia and Ethiopia. This guide 

aims to assist countries in formulating and implementing 

monitoring and evaluation strategies [WHO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: WHO/CDS/EPR/LYO/2006.2 

Organization: the World Health Organization (WHO) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Community-Based Mass 

Prophylaxis: A Planning Guide for 

Public Health Preparedness 

Description: A planning guide is used to help state, county, & 

local officials meet federal requirements to prepare for public 

health emergencies. Outlines five components of mass 
164

prophylaxis response to epidemic outbreaks: surveillance, 

stockpiling, distribution, dispensing, and follow up. Addresses 

dispensing operations using a comprehensive operational 

structure for Dispensing/Vaccination Centers (DVCs) based on 

the National Incident Management System (NIMS) [AHRQ 

2011a]. 

Standard Type: Specification 

Organization: The Agency of Healthcare Research & Quality 

(AHRQ) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Converting ATIS Message Standards 

from ASN.1 to XML 

Description: This SAE Standard presents a set of rules for 

transforming an Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) message set 

definition into an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) schema. 

The result is intended to be a stand-alone XML Schema that is 

fully consistent with an existing ASN.1 information model [SAE 

2011b]. 

Standard Type: SAE J2630 

Organization: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 

International 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Data Dictionaries for Intelligent 

Transportation Systems 

Description: The expanding use of digital communications 

among subsystems of the transportation infrastructure has 

spawned the development of data dictionaries for the 

communications between these subsystems. A format for 

intelligent transportation system (ITS) data dictionaries, 

including common terms (e.g. time, date, location), as well as 

the meta-attributes necessary to document ITS data concepts, is 

addressed in this standard [IEEE 2011b]. 

Standard Type: IEEE 1489-1999

Organization: IEEE 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Earthquake Instrumentation Criteria 

for Nuclear Power Plants 

Description: This standard specifies the required earthquake 

instrumentation for the site and structures of light-water-cooled, 

land-based nuclear power plants. It may be used for guidance at 

other types of nuclear facilities [ANS 2011]. 

Standard Type: ANSI/ANS-2.2-2002 

Organization: ANSI; American Nuclear Society (ANS) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Electronic Data Interchange for 

Administration, Commerce, and 

Transport (EDIFACT) 

Description: EDIFACT is an international electronic data 

interchange (EDI) standard developed under the United Nations 

and has been adopted by ISO as the ISO standard, ISO 9735. 

The standard gives syntax rules for the preparation of messages 

to be interchanged between partners in the fields of 

administration, commerce, and transport. ISO/TS 20625:2002 

(or Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce 

and Transport (EDIFACT) – Rules for Generation of XML 
165

Scheme Files (XSD) on the Basis of EDI(FACT) 

implementation guidelines), describes how to derive XML from 

UN/EDIFACT Message Implementation Guides (MIGs) [ISO 

2011d]. 

Standard Type: ISO 9735-1:2002; ISO 9735-2:2002; ISO 

9735-3:2002; ISO 9735-4:2002; ISO 9735-5:2002; ISO 9735-

6:2002; ISO 9735-7:2002; ISO 9735-8:2002; ISO 9735-9:2002; 

ISO 9735-10:2002; ISO/TS 20625:2002 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Field Management Stations (FMS) – 

Part 1: Object Definitions for Signal 

System Masters 

Description: This standard provides the vocabulary (commands, 

responses and information) necessary for traffic management 

and operations personnel to control, manage and monitor signal 

system masters. The standard also includes a protocol 

requirements list (PRL) and a requirements traceability matrix 

providing object conformity information [NTCIP 2011]. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1210:2009 Version 01.52 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

IEEE Safety and Security Standards 

Series 

Description: The IEEE standards Association has prepared a 

three-volume Safety & Security standard series to assist the 

development of the organization’s safety, security, and 

emergency management plans where Volume 1 is about critical 

infrastructure, Volume 2 is about computers and networks, and 

Volume 3 is about electrical systems. [IEEE 2011d] [IEEE 

2011e] [IEEE 2011f]. 

Standard Type: IEEE STDVU121; IEEE STDVU122; IEEE 

STDVU123 

Organization: IEEE 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Information Technology – 

Multimedia Content Description 

Interface 

Description: ISO/IEC 15938 is a family of standards, under the 

general title of Information technology – Multimedia content 

description interface, provides multimedia content description 

interface including geographic. It consists of 8 parts: systems, 

description definition language, visual, audio, multimedia 

description schemes, reference software, conformance testing, 

and extraction and use of Multimedia Content Description 

Interface (MPEG-7) description [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO/IEC 15938-1:2002, ISO/IEC 15938-

1:2002/Amd 1:2005/Cor 1:2005; ISO/IEC 15938-1:2002/Cor 

1:2004; ISO/IEC 15938-1:2002/Cor 2:2005; ISO/IEC 15938-

1:2002/Amd 1:2005; ISO/IEC 15938-1:2002/Amd 2:2006;

ISO/IEC 15938-2:2002; ISO/IEC 15938-3:2002; ISO/IEC

15938-4:2002; ISO/IEC 15938-5:2003; ISO/IEC 15938-6:2003; 

ISO/IEC 15938-7:2003; ISO/IEC TR 15938-8:2002; ISO/IEC 
166

15938-9:2005; ISO/IEC 15938-10:2005; ISO/IEC TR 15938-

11:2005; ISO/IEC 15938-12:2008 

Organization: ISO; International Electrotechnical Commission 

(IEC) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

International Classification of 

Diseases 

Description: An official system of assigning codes to diagnoses 

and procedures associated with hospital utilization. The National 

Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the Federal agency 

responsible for use of the International Statistical Classification 

of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision (ICD-10) 

in the United States, has developed a clinical modification of the 

classification for morbidity purposes. The ICD-10 is used to 

code and classify mortality data from death certificates, having 

replaced ICD-9 for this purpose as of January 1, 1999. ICD-10-

CM is planned as the replacement for ICD-9-CM [CDC 2011a]. 

Standard Type: International Classification of Diseases, 

10th Revision; Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) 

Organization: World Health Organization (WHO); National 

Center for Health Statistics (NCHS); Centers for Medicare and 

Medicaid Services 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

National Weather Service (NWS) 

Directives System (NDS) 

Description: This NDS is the NWS Directives System. It 

translates the ideas, goals, or principles contained in the NWS 

mission, vision, and strategic plan into action-related directives 

[NOAA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NWSI 10-517 2005 

Organization: National Weather Service (NWS); NOAA 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA) Data 

Dictionary

Description: The data dictionary, used to create the National 

Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Uniform Pre-Hospital 

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Dataset, provides over 400 

definitions that can be implemented by an Emergency Medical 

Services (EMS) system. Information provided in the dictionary 

includes name, definition, data type, medical record information, 

variables associated, relation to other national data tools, data 

provider, etc. [UIC 2011]. 

Standard Type: NHTSA Uniform PreHospital EMS Dataset 

Version 2.2.1 (2006) 

Organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

(NHTSA) 

Classification: Document format 

National Infrastructure Protection 

Plan (NIPP) 

Description: The National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)

is a coordinated strategy that defines critical infrastructure and 

key resources (CIKR) protection roles and responsibilities for 

federal, state, local, tribal, and private sector security partners. 

The NIPP sets national priorities, goals, and requirements for 
167

effective distribution of resources that will enable the 

government, economy, and public services to continue in the 

event of a terrorist attack or other disaster. The plan provides 

the unifying structure for the integration of a wide range of 

efforts for the enhanced protection and resiliency of the Nation’s 

CIKR into a single national program [DHS 2009a]. 

Standard Type: The 2009 National Infrastructure Protection 

Plan 

Organization: Department of Homeland Security 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Object Definitions for Actuated 

Traffic Signal Controller Units 

Description: A National Transportation Communications for 

the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITS) Protocol 

(NTCIP) standard where NTCIP is a family of communication 

protocols for traffic management devices. The standard defines 

the data elements and conformance requirements for actuated 

traffic signal controllers (ASC) [NTCIP 2011]. The data in the 

standard is defined using specifications from the internet, and 

expresses a signal system’s operating parameters, functional 

controls, and status information. Some of these functions 

include: signal phases, detectors, coordination, preemption, 

upload and download, and block object data for efficient device 

configuration. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1202:2005, Version 02 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of Transportation 

Engineers (ITE); National Electrical Manufacturers Association 

(NEMA) 

Classification: Document format 

Object Definitions for Closed Circuit 

Television (CCTV) Camera Control 

Description: This standard defines data elements required to 

control video cameras and also defines standardized object 

Groups which can be used for conformance statements [NTCIP 

2011]. It provides the vocabulary – commands, responses and 

information – necessary for traffic management and operations 

personnel to control, manage, and monitor cameras, lenses and 

pan/tilt units. This standard contains object definitions to 

support the functionality of these devices as used for 

transportation and traffic monitoring applications. The standard 

includes conformance group requirements and conformance 

statements to support compliance with the standard.

Standard Type: NTCIP 1205:2001, Version 01.08 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Document format 

Object Definitions for Dynamic 

Message Signs (DMS) 

Description: This standard provides the vocabulary – 

commands, responses, and information – necessary for traffic 

management and operations personnel to advise and inform the 
168

vehicle operators of current highway conditions by using 

dynamic message signs. A dynamic message sign is any sign 

that can change the message presented to the viewer. The 

standard also includes a Protocol Requirements List table, 

standardized data exchange dialogs, a Requirements Traceability 

Matrix, etc. [NTCIP 2011]. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1203: 1997, Version 01.15 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Document format 

Object Definitions for Environmental 

Sensor Stations (ESS) 

Description: The standard provides the vocabulary – 

commands, responses, and information – necessary for the 

management of environmental sensor stations, including road 

weather information systems (RWIS), air quality monitoring 

systems, and pavement treatment systems (PTS) [NTCIP 2011].

Standard Type: NTCIP 1204, Version 03 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Document format 

Object Definitions for 

Transportation Sensor Systems (TSS) 

Description: The standard defines the user needs and features, 

functional requirements, and standardized data element and 

message dialog definitions for Transportation Sensor Systems 

(TSS) [NCTIP 2011]. It provides the vocabulary – commands, 

responses and information – necessary for traffic management 

and operations personnel to control, manage, and monitor 

transportation sensor system devices. These devices include 

smart inductive loop amplifiers, machine vision video detection, 

and microwave radar monitoring systems. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1209:2005, Version 01.19; NTCIP 

1209, Version 2 (Recommended standard) 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Document format 

On-Board Land Vehicle Mayday 

Reporting Interface 

Description: This standard addresses the responsibilities of a 

vehicle in detecting and reporting the event associated with 

either the intelligent vehicle itself or by the intelligent roadway 

of the vehicle that is disabled or involved. It proscribes a basic 

methodology to uniformly incorporate whatever level of data 

reporting the vehicle supports (containing information about 

both the vehicle condition and any occupant data), and transmits 

this data to the response management agency in a Nationally 

standardized format, regardless of the transmission media used 
169

to effect the communications [SAE 2011a]. The standard is 

intended for use by private industry (e.g., manufacturers) and 

public safety and emergency response agencies (at the 

receiving/dispatching point) at local, state, and national levels. 

Receiving devices are expected to be found at local public 

response dispatch points (primary safety answering points). 

Standard Type: SAE J2313 

Organization: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) 

International 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Pandemic Phase Descriptions and 

Main Actions by Phase 

Description: This document defines pandemic phases and main 

actions by phase. The pandemic phases include phases 1-6, post 

peak period, and post pandemic period [WHO 2011c] 

Standard Type: WHO specification 

Organization: World Health Organization (WHO) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Practice for Metadata to Support 

Archived Data Management Systems 

Description: This standard practice describes a hierarchical 

outline of sections and elements to be used in developing 

metadata to support archived data management systems. 

Specifically, the standard establishes the names of metadata 

elements and compound elements to be used in the metadata, the 

definitions of these metadata elements and compound elements, 

and suggested information about and examples of the values that 

are to be provided for the metadata elements. This standard is 

applicable to various types of operational data collected by 

intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and stored in an archived 

data management system. Similarly, the standard can also be 

used with other types of historical traffic and transportation data 

collected and stored in an archived data management system 

[ASTM 2011a]. 

Standard Type: ASTM E2468-05 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Protocol for the Assessment of 

National Communicable Disease 

Surveillance and Response Systems: 

Guidelines for Assessment Teams 

Description: This manual has been developed for World Health 

Organization (WHO) staff and partners carrying out assessments 

of national communicable disease surveillance systems with a 

national team. It will help WHO staff and consultants guide a 

group of national professionals through an assessment of the 

overall structure and performance of surveillance activities in a 

Member State. This assessment should lead to a standardized 

report and an agreed plan of action. The manual also outlines a 

suggested reporting format with tables for implementation plans 

[WHO 2011d]. 

Standard Type: WHO/CDS/CSR/ISR/2001/2/EN 

Organization: The World Health Organization (WHO) 

Classification: Operational guidelines; Document format 
170

Public Health Emergency Response 

Guide for State, Local, & Tribal 

Public Health Directors 

Description: The Public Health Emergency Response Guide is 

used for State, Local, and Tribal Public Health Directors. The 

guide is an all-hazards reference tool for health professionals 

who are responsible for initiating the public health response 

during the first 24 hours (i.e., the acute phase) of an emergency 

or disaster. It also contains guidance that is applicable to specific 

types of incidents, such as floods, earthquakes, and acts of 

terrorism [CDC 2011b]. 

Standard Type: Specification 

Organization: The National Center for Environmental Health 

(NCEH), Division of Emergency and Environmental Health 

Services (EEHS), the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Radio Data System- Traffic Message 

Channel (RDS-TMC) 

Description: The Traffic Message Channel (TMC) is a 

technology for providing traffic and travel delay information to 

drivers. The complementary Radio Data System (RDS) 

broadcasts digital information carrying TMC updates via FM 

radio waves. RDS-TMC is standardized under the EN ISO 

14819-series [ETSI 2011]. 

Standard Type: Industry specification 

Organization: Traveler Information Services Association 

(TISA); ISO; European Committee for Standardization

Classification: Document format 

Road Transport and Traffic 

Telematics – Dedicate Short Range 

Communication (DSRC) – DSRC 

Application Layer 

Description: The standard specifies the application layer core,

which provides communication tools for applications based on 

dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) [ISO 2011c]. 

Standard Type: ISO 15628: 2007 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

SARS Risk Assessment and 

Preparedness Framework 

Description: This document sets out a framework of activities, 

at national and international levels, that can be used to assess the 

risk that SARS might recur and to prepare appropriate 

contingency plans. Modeled on WHO’s influenza pandemic 

preparedness plan, the framework adopts a phased approach in 

which recommended activities escalate in line with the evolving 

epidemiological situation. Phases are defined by distinct 

epidemiological criteria, such as the detection of sporadic cases 

with no secondary spread, the establishment of human-to-human 

transmission, and evidence of international spread [WHO 

2011e]. 

Standard Type: WHO/CDS/CSR/ARO/2004.2 

Organization: The World Health Organization (WHO) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) Description: Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) have been developed 

for each of the identified critical infrastructure sectors 
171

supporting the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). 

The Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) detail the application of the 

National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) risk management 

framework to the unique characteristics and risk landscape of 

each sector and provide the means by which the NIPP is 

implemented across all critical infrastructure and key resources 

(CIKR) sectors. Each Sector-Specific Agency developed an SSP 

through a coordinated effort involving their public and private 

sector CIKR partners [DHS 2011b]. 

Standard Type: The Sector-Specific Plans for Agriculture and 

Food; Banking and Finance; Communications; Defense 

Industrial Base; Energy; Information Technology; National 

Monuments and Icons; Transportation Systems; and Water. 

Organization: Department of Homeland Security 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Simple Transportation Management 

Framework (STMF) 

Description: This standard describes the simple transportation 

management framework used for managing and communicating 

information between management stations and transportation 

devices. It covers integrated management of transportation 

networks, networking devices, and transportation specific 

equipment attached to NTCIP-based networks [NTCIP 2011]. It 

specifies a set of rules for processing, organizing and 

exchanging information between transportation centers 

(management applications) and transportation equipment (traffic 

signal controllers, message signs, etc.) so they can communicate 

with each other. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1101:1996; NTCIP 1101 Amendment 

1 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Simple Transportation Management 

Framework (STMF) Application 

Profile 

Description: This standard defines how to exchange data 

between a management system and a field device with the 

Simple Transportation Management Framework (STMF). This 

standard includes mandatory requirements for implementing the 

STMF, and optional and conditional requirements that may be 

applicable in specific environments [NTCIP 2011]. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 2301:2001 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of Transportation 

Engineers (ITE); National Electrical Manufacturers Association 

(NEMA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Smallpox Response Plan and 

Guidelines 

Description: This document outlines the public health strategies 

that would guide the public health response to a smallpox 

emergency and many of the federal, state, and local public 
172

health activities that must be undertaken in a smallpox outbreak 

[CDC 2011c]. 

Standard Type: Smallpox Response Plan and Guidelines, 

Version 3.0

Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Specification for 

Telecommunications and Information 

Exchange Between Roadside and 

Vehicle Systems 

Description: This standard describes a medium access control 

(MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specification for wireless 

connectivity using dedicated short-range communications 

(DSRC) services. DSRC provides the foundation for a variety of 

applications including vehicle safety, automated tolling, 

enhanced navigation, traffic management and many others 

[ASTM 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ASTM E2213-03 (2010) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Specifications for Archiving ITSGenerated Traffic Monitoring Data Description: This specification describes data elements and 

schema for an archived data management system for intelligent 

transportation system (ITS)-generated traffic monitoring data, 

including conventional traffic monitoring data, data collected 

directly from ITS systems, and travel-time data from probe 

vehicles. It establishes the names of the data elements, their 

interrelationships, and their procedural definitions. These 

procedural definitions include data collection instrumentation 

and methodology as well as recommended procedures for 

calculating traffic statistics [ASTM 2011c]. 

Standard Type: ASTM E2665-08 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Standard Classifications for Incident 

Reporting and Fire Protection Data 

Description: The specification provides a common language 

and definitions for define and describe pre-incident 

environments, fire, and other emergency incidents, post-incident 

damage assessments, and fire service data [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 901: 2011 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface; 

Operational guidelines 

Standard for a Fire Service Vehicle 

Operations Training Program 

Description: It specifies the minimum requirements for a fire 

service vehicle operations training program (except for aircraft 

and watercraft), including safety procedures for those members 

who drive or occupy fire service vehicles [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1451: 2007 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 
173

Standard for Installation, 

Maintenance, and Use of Emergency 

Services Communications Systems 

Description: The standard covers the installation, performance, 

operation, and maintenance of public emergency services 

communications systems and facilities [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1221: 2010 

Organization: National Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard on Disaster/Emergency 

Management and Business 

Continuity Programs 

Description: The standard provides a foundation for 

disaster/emergency management planning and operations and 

describes common elements, techniques, and processes [NFPA 

2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1600:2010 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard on Emergency Services 

Incident Management System 

Overview 

Description: The standard defines and describes the essential 

elements of an incident management system that promotes 

coordination among responding agencies [NFPA 2011].

Standard Type: NFPA 1561:2008 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Standard on Stored Electrical 

Energy Emergency and Standby 

Power Systems 

Description: This Standard presents performance requirements 

for Level 1 and Level 2 stored electric energy systems providing 

an alternate source of electrical power in buildings and facilities 

in the event that the normal electrical power source fails. NFPA 

111 also provides guidance for inspectors, designers, installers, 

manufacturers, and users of a stored emergency power supply 

system (SEPSS) and to serve as a basis for communication 

between the parties involved. Systems covered include power 

sources, transfer equipment, controls, supervisory equipment, 

and accessory equipment needed to supply electrical power to 

selected circuits [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 111-2010 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Traffic and Travel Information (TTI) 

– TTI via Transport Protocol Experts 

Group (TPEG) Extensible Markup 

Language (XML) 

Description: ISO/TS 24530-1:2006 establishes the top-level 

“containers” for TPEG messages in XML and the common data 

types that are used by tpegML applications (e.g. tpeg-ptiML). 

ISO/TS 24530-2:2006 establishes the XML encoding of the 

method of Location Referencing used by TPEG applications. 

ISO/TS 24530-3:2006 establishes the XML encoding of the 

method of the Road Traffic Message application. ISO/TS 

24530-4:2006 establishes the XML encoding of the method of 

the Public Transport Information application [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO/TS 24530-1:2006; ISO/TS 24530-2:2006; 

ISO/TS 24530-3:2006; ISO/TS 24530-4:2006 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 
174

Traffic Management Center-toCenter Communications Description: The standard for Traffic Management Center-toCenter contains both a functional level data dictionary and a 

message set and is designed to be independent of any specific 

communications protocol. The data dictionary defines a set of 

data elements (Des) necessary to support data exchange within 

and among traffic management systems. Specifically, it provides 

meta-attributes for each DE including definitions (semantics) 

and specific format (syntax) [IHS 2011]. 

Standard Type: AASHTO-ITE TM 2.1 

Organization: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) 

Classification: Document format 

Transit Communications Interface 

Profiles (TCIP) 

Description: TCIP provides a library of information exchange 

building blocks, to allow transit agencies and transit suppliers to 

create standardized tailored interfaces [APTATCIP 2011]. The 

Transit Communications Interface Profiles (TCIP) standard 

specifies the rules and terms for the automated exchange of 

information in transit applications such as operations, 

maintenance, planning, management, and customer services. 

TCIP is an interface standard whose primary purpose is to define 

standardized mechanisms for the exchange of information in the 

form of data among transit business systems, subsystems, 

components, and devices. 

Standard Type: APTA TCIP-S-01 3.0.3 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of Transportation 

Engineers (ITE); National Electrical Manufacturers Association 

(NEMA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Transport information and control 

systems – Traffic Impediment 

Warning Systems (TIWS) – System 

Requirements 

Description: This standard specifies system requirements for 

Traffic Impediment Warning Systems (TIWS). The purposes of 

the warning system are that information collected by the 

infrastructure is automatically and quickly provided to vehicles 

and reported to the traffic system operator, so vehicles can avoid 

secondary accidents. This Technical Specification focuses on 

closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras as the sensors, to 

detect traffic impediments using image processing and variable 

message signs as the communication method to provide 

information to drivers [ISO 2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO/TS 15624:2001 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Operating guidelines 

Transportation Management 

Protocols (TMP) 

Description: This standard defines a set of rules and services for 

exchanging transportation management information between 

transportation management applications and equipment in an 

interoperable manner. TMP defines a composite application 

layer protocol for the management of transportation equipment. 
175

The composite protocol consists of three component protocols: 

the Internet-standard Simple Network Management Protocol 

(SNMP), the Simple Fixed Message Protocol (SFMP), and the 

Simple Transportation Management Protocol (STMP) [NTCIP 

2011]. 

Standard Type: NTCIP 1103:2010 Version 02.17 

Organization: American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials (AASHTO); Institute of 

Transportation Engineers (ITE); National Electrical

Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

D.4 – Incident Management Standards and Guidelines 

This section identifies standards and guidelines that are potentially relevant to the development of M&S 

applications for incident management systems. The standards and guidelines may include mechanisms and

formats for the interchange of data, data storage, generation of information displays, integration of 

systems, and/or conceptualization and design of incident management M&S applications. Subsection 1 

includes the standards that are specific to incident management domain. The following subsections list 

standards that are common across the homeland security applications of M&S and focus on conceptual 

modeling, distributed simulation, geographical information system (GIS), communications, and training 

respectively. 

Standard Title Overview 

Advisory and Notification Markup 

Language (ANML) 

Description: The Open Security Organization is developing an 

Advisory and Notification Markup Language (ANML). ANML 

is an XML-based specification for describing advisories and 

other types of notifications. ANML intends to solve the 

inconsistent use of terminology by software vendors in their 

advisories and make it easy for applications to read these 

advisories. Although ANML will have its biggest impact for 

security advisories, it can be used for any type of notification 

[OASIS 2010a]. 

Standard Type: Industry specification 

Organization: Open Security Organization 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Common Biometric Exchange 

Formats Framework (CBEFF) 

Description: The Common Biometric Exchange Formats 

Framework (CBEFF) describes the data elements necessary for 

biometric data interchange among proprietary application 

programs. It describes a set of data elements necessary to 

support biometric technologies in a common way. These data 

elements can be placed in a single file used to exchange 

biometric information between different system components or 

between systems themselves. The result promotes 

interoperability of biometric-based application programs and 

systems developed by different vendors by allowing biometric 
176

data interchange. Specifically, ANSI International Committee 

for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) 398 supports 

multiple biometric data types (e.g., fingerprint, face, and voice 

recognition.) and/or multiple biometric data blocks of the same 

biometric type. It also defines biometric data objects for use 

within smart cards and other tokens and describes common 

fields for biometric features and the validity period [ANSI 

2010]. 

Standard Type: ANSI INCITS 398-2008 

Organization: American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Common Intrusion Detection 

Signatures Standard (CIDSS) 

Description: The purpose of the Common Intrusion Detection 

Signatures Standard (CIDSS) is to define a common data format 

for storing signatures from different intrusion detection systems. 

CIDSS describes a common data format to represent information 

contained in signatures of intrusion detection systems, and 

explains the rationale for using this common format. The 

proposed format is a dialect of the Extensible Markup Language 

(XML) [OASIS 2010a]. 

Standard Type: CIDSS Version 05 

Organization: CIDSS Development Group 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Critical Infrastructure Protection 

Initiative (CIPI) 

Description: The Open GIS Consortium (OGC) Critical 

Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI) is an OGC 

Interoperability Initiative designed to test the application of 

interoperable technology to meet Critical Infrastructure 

Detection, Prevention, Planning, Response, and Recovery 

challenges. The Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative 

Phase 1, Requirement Set 2 (CIPI-1.2) is a pilot project that 

leverages the success of previous and ongoing OGC initiatives 

to improve interoperability across communities that need to 

collaborate to detect, prevent, plan for, respond to, and recover 

from natural and human threats to telecommunications, water 

resources, oil and gas, government, transportation, emergency 

response, electric power and health services infrastructure. A 

collaborative effort, CIPI is being conducted in coordination 

with federal, state, local government, commercial, and nongovernment sponsors. CIPI will also identify requirements for 

new specifications to advance plug and play interoperability for 

critical infrastructure protection. The work on CIPI 1.2 has 

produced Draft Interoperability Reports [OGC 2010].

Standard Type: CIPI, Phase 1.2 

Organization: Open GIS Consortium (OGC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Emergency Alert System-Common 

Alerting Protocol (EAS-CAP) 

Implementation Guide 

Description: Public warnings intended for transmission over the 

Emergency Alert System (EAS) can be encoded in Common 

Alerting Protocol (CAP) messages in various ways. The EASCAP Industry Group (ECIG) Implementation Guide (Version 
177

1.0) has been compiled in light of the draft OASIS CAP v1.2 

specification and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning 

System (IPAWS) CAP-EAS Profile v1.0, as well as the results 

of a public comment period on the prior draft Implementation 

Guide. The guide is intended to further reduce areas of 

uncertainty in how an alert will be presented to the public via 

CAP-EAS, so that originators and distributors of alerts can 

deliver the intended message to the public, regardless of the 

vendors or platforms involved [ECIG 2010]. 

Standard Type: ECIG-IG-1.0 

Organization: EAS-CAP Industry Group (ECIG) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Emergency Management Standard Description: The Emergency Management Standard by the 

Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) is 

designed as a tool for continuous improvement as part of a 

voluntary accreditation process for local and state emergency 

management programs. EMAP makes no representation or 

guarantee as to the efficacy of any program as a result of use of 

or compliance with the standards contained herein. EMAP 

makes no guarantee or warranty as to the completeness of 

information in this document, and EMAP expressly disclaims 

liability for any personal injury or damages of any nature 

resulting from the publication, use of, or reliance on this 

document. Standard language has been developed through a 

series of collaborative workshops and committee and

commission meetings [EMAP 2010]. 

Standard Type: EMAP Standard, September 2007 

Organization: Emergency Management Accreditation Program 

(EMAP) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

FEMA Comprehensive Preparedness 

Guide 

Description: The Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) Comprehensive Preparedness Guide provides general 

guidelines on developing Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs). 

It promotes a common understanding of the fundamentals of 

planning and decision making to help emergency planners 

examine a hazard and produce integrated, coordinated, and 

synchronized plans. This Guide helps emergency managers in 

State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal governments in their efforts 

to develop and maintain a viable all-hazard EOP [FEMA 

2010a]. 

Standard Type: CPG 101 

Organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Global Justice XML Data Model 

(GJXDM) 

Description: The Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM) is 

an XML standard designed specifically for criminal justice 

information exchanges, providing law enforcement, public 

safety agencies, prosecutors, public defenders, and the judicial 
178

branch with a tool to effectively share data and information in a 

timely manner. There are three primary parts to the GJXDM: the 

Data Dictionary (identifying content and meaning), the Data 

Model (defining structure and organization), and the Component 

Reuse Repository [OJP 2010]. 

Standard Type: Global JXDM Version 3.0.3 

Organization: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Incident Command System (ICS) 

Model Procedures Guide for 

Incidents Involving Structural Fire 

Fighting, High Rise, Multi Casualty, 

Highway, & Managing Large-Scale 

Incidents Using NIMS-ICS 

Description: This manual combines the information from four 

existing National Incident Management System Consortium 

(NIMSC) Model Procedures Guides, plus new information on 

managing large-scale incidents, into one comprehensive, NIMScompliant book. As with all NIMSC model procedures, this 

information was developed and approved by a broad group of 

national experts on these topics. The manual includes basic 

information on the National Incident Management System 

(NIMS) ICS and then detailed information on how to apply it to 

structure fires, high-rise fires, major EMS incidents, roadway 

incidents, and large-scale incidents of all types. This includes 

concepts such as unified command, area command, joint 

operations centers (JOC), multi-agency coordination centers 

(MACC) and much more. This is the definitive text on the 

application of NIMS ICS to common types of emergency 

incidents [NIMCS 2010a]. 

Standard Type: Incident Command System (ICS) Model 

Procedures Guide for Incidents Involving Structural Fire 

Fighting, High Rise, Multi Casualty, Highway, & Managing 

Large-Scale Incidents Using NIMS-ICS, Book 1 – First Edition 

Organization: National Incident Management System 

Consortium (NIMSC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Incident Command System (ICS) 

Model Procedures Guide for Special 

Operations - Incidents Involving 

Hazardous Materials/WMD, 

Structural Collapse, Wildland, and 

Managing Large-Scale Incidents 

Using NIMS-ICS 

Description: This manual combines the information from three 

existing National Incident Management System Consortium 

(NIMSC) Model Procedures Guides, plus new information on 

managing large-scale incidents, into one comprehensive, NIMScompliant book. As with all NIMSC model procedures, this 

information was developed and approved by a broad group of 

national experts on these topics. The manual includes basic 

information on NIMS Incident Command System (ICS) and then 

detailed information on how to apply it to wildland, hazardous 

materials, urban search and rescue structural collapse, and largescale incidents of all types. This includes concepts such as 

unified command, area command, joint operations centers 

(JOC), multi-agency coordination centers (MACC), and much 

more [NIMCS 2010b]. 

Standard Type: Special Operations - Incidents Involving 

Hazardous Materials/WMD, Structural Collapse, Wildland, and 

Managing Large-Scale Incidents Using NIMS-ICS, Book 2 – 

First Edition 
179

Organization: National Incident Management System 

Consortium (NIMSC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Incident Object Description and 

Exchange Format (IODEF) 

Description: The Incident Object Description Exchange Format 

(IODEF) is a format for representing computer security 

information commonly exchanged between Computer Security 

Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs). It provides an XML 

representation for conveying incident information across 

administrative domains between parties that have an operational 

responsibility of remediation or a watch-and-warning over a 

defined constituency. The data model encodes information 

about hosts, networks, and the services running on these 

systems; attack methodology and associated forensic evidence; 

impact of the activity; and limited approaches for documenting 

workflow [OASIS 2010a]. 

Standard Type: Industry specification 

Organization: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Extended Incident Handling (INCH) Working Group

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Intrusion Detection Message 

Exchange Format (IDMEF) 

Description: The purpose of the Intrusion Detection Message 

Exchange Format (IDMEF) is to define data formats and 

exchange procedures for sharing information of interest to 

intrusion detection and response systems, and to the 

management systems, which may need to interact with them. 

The IDMEF data model is an object-oriented representation of 

the alert data sent to intrusion detection managers by intrusion 

detection analyzers. The data model defines support classes that 

accommodate the differences in data sources among analyzers. 

In particular, the notions of source and target for the alert are 

represented by the combination of Node, Process, Service, and 

User classes [OASIS 2010a]. 

Standard Type: IDMEF 

Organization: Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

Intrusion Detection Exchange Format Working Group 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Managing Hazardous Material 

Incidents (MHMIs) 

Description: The Managing Hazardous Material Incidents

(MHMIs) series was developed to provide emergency medical 

services (EMS) personnel and hospital emergency departments 

(EDs) with the necessary guidance to plan for, and improve their 

ability to respond to, incidents that involve human exposure to 

hazardous materials. The guidelines inform emergency 

personnel how to appropriately decontaminate, treat, and 

recommend follow-up care to exposed persons, as well as take 

measures to protect themselves. The MHMI series contain 3 

volumes: “Emergency medical services: A planning guide for 

the management of contaminated patients;” “Hospital 

emergency departments: A planning guide for the management 

of contaminated patients;” and “Medical management guidelines 
180

(MMGs) for acute chemical exposures” [ATSDR 2010].

Standard Type: ATSDR MHMIs Version 2001 

Organization: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Mass Casualty Event Preparedness 

and Response 

Description: This document is an interim planning guidance for 

preparedness and response to a mass casualty event resulting 

from terrorist use of explosives. It includes a description of 

system-wide and discipline-specific challenges as well as 

recommended solutions to address these challenges. The 

proposed solutions for the discipline-specific challenges have 

been incorporated into easy to use templates that can assist 

various disciplines in managing surge needs for injuries. [CDC 

2010]. 

Standard Type: Government document 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Model Procedures Guide for 

Highway Incidents 

Description: Model Procedures Guide for Highway Incidents is 

a document that guides application of the Incident Management 

System (IMS) to events occurring on these high-volume 

roadways. The Guide addresses command structures for 

potential events ranging from parades to hazmat spills. Its idea is 

that the IMS is adaptable enough to handle incidents as small as 

a single-car breakdown and as large as a major winter storm. 

The guide discusses the factors involved in: providing 

emergency services and unblocking traffic as quickly as 

possible; protecting incident responders and those under their 

care from moving vehicles; protecting other motorists, 

passengers and cargo from incident hazards; facilitating the 

movement of emergency vehicles to and from the scene; and 

facilitating traffic flow past the incident and throughout the area 

[DOT 2010]. 

Standard Type: Government document 

Organization: National Fire Service Incident Management 

System Consortium (NFSIMSC), U.S. Department of 

Transportation 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

National Emergency 

Communications Plan 

Description: The National Emergency Communications Plan 

(NECP) is a strategic plan that sets goals and identifies key 

national priorities to enhance governance, planning, technology, 

training and exercises, and disaster communications capabilities. 

The NECP provides recommendations including milestones to 

help emergency response providers and relevant government 

officials make measurable improvements in emergency

communications over the next three years [DHS 2010b]. 

Standard Type: NEPC, July 2008 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
181

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

National Incident Management 

System (NIMS) 

Description: The National Incident Management System 

(NIMS) provides a systematic, proactive approach to guide 

departments and agencies at all levels of government, 

nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to work 

seamlessly to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, 

and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, 

location, or complexity, in order to reduce the loss of life and 

property and harm to the environment [FEMA 2010b]. 

Standard Type: National Incident Management System, 

December 2008 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

National Preparedness Guidelines Description: The Guidelines, including the supporting Target 

Capabilities List, supersedes the Interim National Preparedness 

Goal and defines what it means for the Nation to be prepared for 

all hazards. There are four critical elements of the Guidelines: 

National Preparedness Vision, National Planning Scenarios, 

Universal Task List (UTL), and Target Capabilities List (TCL) 

[FEMA 2010c]. 

Standard Type: National Preparedness Guidelines, September 

2007 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

National Response Framework Description: The National Response Framework presents the 

guiding principles that enable all response partners to prepare 

for and provide a unified national response to disasters and 

emergencies - from the smallest incident to the largest 

catastrophe. The Framework establishes a comprehensive, 

national, all-hazards approach to domestic incident response 

[FEMA 2010d].

Standard Type: National Response Framework, January 2008 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

National Strategy for Homeland 

Security 

Description: The National Strategy for Homeland Security 

guides, organizes, and unifies our Nation's homeland security 

efforts. The 2008 Strategic Plan serves to focus the 

Department’s mission and sharpen operational effectiveness, 

particularly in delivering services in support of Departmentwide initiatives and the other mission goals. It identifies the 

goals and objectives by which we continually assess our 

performance. The Department uses performance measures at all 

levels to monitor our strategic progress and program success. 

This process also keeps the Department’s priorities aligned, 

linking programs and operations to performance measures, 

mission goals, resource priorities, and strategic objectives [DHS 
182

2010c]. 

Standard Type: National Strategy for Homeland Security, 

September 16, 2008 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

New Guide for School Preparedness 

and All Hazard Response 

Description: The guide covers concepts, principles, and best 

practices for all-hazards integrated emergency management 

programs in preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, and 

recovery for schools and school districts in preparation and 

response to a natural or man-caused incident [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard Type: ASTM WK8908 (Work Item) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Preparing for a Terrorist Bombing: 

A Common Sense Approach 

Description: This document focuses on common sense 

principles that will be useful in a bombing event [CDC 2010q]. 

Standard Type: Government document 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) Description: Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a family of 

web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works, 

such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video, in a 

standardized format. An RSS document includes full or 

summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and 

authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them 

syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want 

to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to 

aggregate feeds from many sites into one place [RSSBOARD 

2010]. 

Standard Type: RSS 2.0 

Organization: RSS Advisory Board 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Standard Classification for Search 

and Rescue Dog Crew/Teams 

Description: The Standard Classification for Search and Rescue 

Dog Crew/Teams covers the aid of search and rescue managers 

in ordering resources for search and rescue incidents and to aid 

dog handlers in communicating the types of tasked for which 

they and their dogs have trained. This classification is intended 

as a supplement to the resource typing specifications of the 

Incident Command System and specifically as a means of typing 

search and rescue dog resources. This classification is suitable 

for classifying dog resources for a wide variety of emergency 

management purposes including both search and rescue and law 

enforcement incidents [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard Type: ASTM F1848-98 (2005) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 
183

Standard for Installation, 

Maintenance, and Use of Emergency 

Services Communications Systems 

Description: The Standard for Installation, Maintenance, and 

Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems covers 

the installation, performance, operation, and maintenance of 

public emergency services communications systems and 

facilities. It is not intended as a design specification manual or 

an instruction manual. The standard covers systems that receive 

alarms from the public, e.g., 9-1-1 services systems and 

communications centers, and retransmits those alarms to 

response agencies. It also provides requirements for dispatching 

systems and establishes a level of performance and the quality of 

installations for emergency communication systems. Elements 

of these systems may include communications centers, signal 

wiring, emergency response facilities, operations centers, 

telephones, dispatching systems, computer-aided dispatching, 

and public alerting systems. Other operations covered under this 

standard include system testing, record keeping, network 

security, and redundancy [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1221-2010 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Standard Guide for Developing a 

Hazardous Materials Training 

Curriculum for Initial Response 

Personnel 

Description: This guide summarizes the typical contents of a 

course to aid emergency response team training organizations in 

selecting important subjects for inclusion in existing or new 

training programs. It covers a format for a hazardous materials 

spill initial response team training curriculum [ASTM 2011]. 

Standard Type: F1011 - 07 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Using the 

Incident Command System 

Framework in Managing Search and 

Rescue Operations 

Description: This Standard Guide for Using the Incident 

Command System Framework in Managing Search and Rescue 

Operations covers the use of the Incident Command System 

(ICS), as developed in the National Incident Management 

System (NIMS) in 2004, as the management framework for 

search and rescue (SAR) operations. Except as otherwise 

specified herein, the methods and requirements of this standard 

also include NIMS, ICS, and National Response Framework 

(NRF) requirements, when required, for search and rescue 

personnel that deploy within the United States of America. The 

ICS may be used outside of the United States for managing SAR 

operations, users of this standard need to be aware of other 

incident management requirements, guidelines, policies, 

procedures, and protocols within the area of ICS SAR operations 

[ASTM 2011]. 

Standard Type: ASTM F1422 - 08 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 
184

Standard on Disaster/Emergency 

Management and Business 

Continuity Programs 

Description: This standard establishes a common set of criteria 

for disaster/emergency management and business continuity 

programs. Specifically, this standard provides 

disaster/emergency management and business continuity 

programs the criteria to assess current programs or to develop, 

implement, and maintain aspects for prevention, mitigation, 

preparation, response, and recovery from emergencies. This 

standard applies to public, nongovernmental, and private entities 

[NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1600 (2007) 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Standard on Emergency Services 

Incident Management System 

Description: This standard establishes the minimum 

requirements for an incident management system to be used by 

emergency services to manage all incidents/planned events. 

Requirements are established for operating systems,

implementation, and communications. Furthermore, the standard 

provides a description of key positions and roles within the 

incident management system, including the functions of the 

Incident Commander, Command Staff, Operations, Planning, 

Logistics, and Finance/Administration. The standard also 

addresses requirements for multi-agency coordination and 

training and staffing for Incident Management Teams [NFPA 

2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1561 (2008) 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Standard on Fire Department 

Occupational Safety and Health 

Program 

Description: The Standard on Fire Department Occupational 

Safety and Health Program standard contains minimum

requirements for a fire–service-related occupational safety and 

health program. The standard specifies safety requirements for 

those members involved in rescue, fire suppression, emergency 

medical services, hazardous materials operations, special 

operations, and related activities. It covers everything from 

training, vehicles, and equipment to protective clothing, 

emergency operations, and incident stress [NFPA 2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 1500 - 2007 

Organization: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Tsunami Warning Markup Language 

(TWML), Cyclone Warning Markup 

Language (CWML) 

Description: The goal of the Tsunami Warning Markup 

Language (TWML) and the Cyclone Warning Markup Language 

(CWML) is to facilitate various kinds of automated processing, 

such as rapid dissemination to people in affected areas, 

aggregation of warning information, and interoperability with 

geo-spatial systems through the use of Geography Markup 

Language (GML) elements. The languages are also designed to 

be used in conjunction with OASIS standards such as the 

Emergency Data eXchange Language Distribution Element 
185

(EDXL-DE) and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) [OASIS 

2010b]. 

Standard Type: CWML Version 1.0; TWML Draft 

Organization: National ICT Australia (NICTA) 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Vehicular Emergency Data Set 

(VEDS) 

Description: The Vehicular Emergency Data Set (VEDS) is an 

XML-based data standard that determines useful and critical 

elements needed to prove an efficient emergency response to 

vehicular emergency incidents. The Protocol identifies crash and 

medical data elements [OASIS 2010b]. 

Standard Type: VEDS Version 2.0 

Organization: ComCARE Alliance 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

D.5 – Healthcare Systems Standards and Guidelines 

This section identifies standards and guidelines that are potentially relevant to the development of M&S applications 

for healthcare systems. The standards and guidelines may include mechanisms and formats for the interchange of 

data, data storage, generation of information displays, integration of systems, and/or conceptualization and design of 

healthcare M&S applications. 

Standard Title Overview 

After a Terrorist Bombing: Health 

and Safety Information for the 

General Public 

Description: A document contains “Immediately after the 

event” and “Hours or days after the event” for helping people 

who have been affected by the blast and will provide updated 

information as soon as they learn more [CDC 2010a].

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Bioterrorism Readiness Plan: A 

Template for Healthcare Facilities 

Description: A Bioterrorism Readiness Plan to serve as a 

reference document and initial template to facilitate preparation 

of bioterrorism readiness plans for individual institutions [CDC 

2010r]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC), The Association for Professionals in Infection Control 

and Epidemiology (APIC) Bioterrorism Task Force 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Business Continuity/Disaster 

Recovery Plan 

Description: The business continuity/disaster recovery plan is 

to identify the most critical information needs for patient care, 

treatment, and services and business processes, and the impact 

on the hospital if these information systems were severely 

interrupted. The plan identifies alternative means for processing 

data, providing for recovery of data, and returning to normal 

operations as soon as possible [JCAHOSTD 2010].
186

Standard Type: IM.2.30 (2008) 

Organization: The Joint Commission 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Common Biometric Exchange 

Formats Framework (CBEFF) 

Description: The standard specifies a common set of data 

elements necessary to support multiple biometric technologies 

and to promote interoperability of biometric-based application 

programs and systems by allowing for biometric data exchange. 

These common data elements can be placed in a single file, record, or data object used to exchange biometric information 

between different system components and applications. This 

standard specifies the biometric data elements [ANSI 2010]. 

Standard Type: ANSI INCITS 398-2008 

Organization: American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 

Classification: Document Format 

Communicating in the First Hours 

for Anthrax: Short and Extended 

Messages 

Description: These messages can be used by public health 

officials during the first hours after a suspected anthrax 

emergency. The short messages include essential information to 

help minimize the immediate risk to the public from an attack. 

The extended messages also include general information that 

can be used as a resource for officials in developing messages 

tailored to a specific situation [CDC 2010c]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Community-Based Mass 

Prophylaxis: A Planning Guide for 

Public Health Preparedness 

Description: Planning guide to help state, county, and local 

officials meet federal requirements to prepare for public health 

emergencies [AHRQ 2011a]. Outlines five components of mass 

prophylaxis response to epidemic outbreaks. Addresses 

dispensing operations using a comprehensive operational 

structure for Dispensing/Vaccination Centers (DVCs) based on 

the National Incident Management System (NIMS). 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Agency of Healthcare Research & Quality 

(AHRQ) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Digital Imaging and 

Communications in Medicine 

(DICOM) 

Description: A specification for exchange of radiology images 

and other medical information between computers. It enables 

digital communication between diagnostic and therapeutic 

equipment and systems from various manufacturers. DICOM is 

a global Information-Technology that is used in virtually all 

hospitals worldwide. Its current structure is designed to ensure 

the interoperability of systems to produce, store, display, 

process, send, retrieve, query or print medical images and 

derived structured documents as well as to manage related 

workflow [NEMA 2010]. 
187

Standard Type: DICOM 3.0 

Organization: American College of Radiology (ACR), and 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) 

Classification: General purpose integration interfaces 

Disaster Privileges Description: A plan that identifies the option to grant privileges 

during disaster situations to doctors and other licensed 

practitioners [JCAHOSTD 2010]. 

Standard Type: MS.4.110; HR.4.35 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Drawing Interchange File (DXF) 

Formats 

Description: The DXF format is a tagged data representation of 

all the information contained in an AutoCAD drawing file. 

Tagged data means that each data element in the file is preceded 

by an integer number that is called a group code. A group code’s 

value indicates what type of data element follows. This value 

also indicates the meaning of a data element for a given object 

(or record) type. Virtually all user-specified information in a 

drawing file can be represented in DXF format [AUTODESK 

2010]. DXF can be used for exchange of radiology images and 

other medical information between computers. 

Standard Type: AutoCAD 2009, v.u.23.1.01 

Organization: Autodesk, Inc. 

Classification: General purpose integration interfaces 

Emergency Electrical Power Source Description: A plan that describes the requirements of a 

hospital’s emergency power system [JCAHOSTD 2010]. 

Standard Type: EC.7.20 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Emergency Management Drills Description: A plan that describes a hospital’s approach to 

conduct drills to test emergency management [JCAHOSTD 

2010]. 

Standard Type: EC.4.20 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Emergency Management Planning Description: An emergency management plan that 

comprehensively describes the approach to emergencies in the 

hospital or its community [JCAHOSTD 2010].

Standard Type: EC.4.10 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Environment of Care Crosswalk Description: The Joint Commission Resources, a not-for-profit 

affiliate of The Joint Commission, released the Environment of 

Care Crosswalk. The 2012 Crosswalk of the Joint Commission 

Environment of Care Standards for Hospitals helps hospitals to 
188

simplify their compliance activities and recognize when there is 

a duplication of requirements between the complete 2012 Joint 

Commission Environment of Care , Emergency Management , 

and Life Safety (LS) standards and elements of performance for 

hospitals and their comparable Centers for Medicare & 

Medicaid, Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

(OSHA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. [JCR 

2011]. 

Standard Type: 2012 Crosswalk of the Joint Commission 

Environment of Care Standards for Hospitals 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Facts About the Laboratory 

Response Network 

Description: Description of the network of labs that respond to 

biological & chemical terrorism. In 1999, the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the 

Laboratory Response Network (LRN). The LRN’s purpose is to 

run a network of labs that can respond to biological and 

chemical terrorism, and other public health emergencies. The 

LRN has grown since its inception. It now includes state and 

local public health, veterinary, military, and international labs. 

This fact sheet provides a brief description of the LRN, and how 

it works [CDC 2010s]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Guidance for Public Health 

Departments and Clinicians Caring 

for Individuals Who May Have Been 

Recently Exposed to Polonium -210 

Description: Clinical guidance recommendations for public 

health departments and clinicians to care people who may have 

been recently exposed to Polonium -210 (Po-210). Po-210 is 

considered to be one of the most hazardous radioactive materials 

known, but it must be inhaled or ingested to exert its toxic 

effects. It is found naturally in the environment, and the general 

population is internally contaminated with small but measurable 

amounts of it on a regular basis through food, water, and air 

[CDC 2010u]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Guidance on Initial Responses to a 

Suspicious Letter/Container With a 

Potential Biological Threat 

Description: Guidelines for local responders, based on 

existing procedures, on the initial response to letters, packages, 

or containers containing suspicious powders, liquids, or other 

materials [DHS 2010e]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) 
189

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Guidelines for Handling Decedents 

Contaminated with Radioactive 

Materials 

Description: Detonation of a nuclear weapon or activation of a 

radiological dispersal device could cause radioactively 

contaminated decedents. These guidelines are designed to 

address both of these scenarios. They could also be applicable in 

other instances where decedents’ bodies are contaminated with 

radioactive material (e.g., reactor accidents, transportation 

accidents involving radioactive material, or the discharge of a 

decedent from a hospital after injection or implantation of a 

radiopharmaceutical). These guidelines suggest ways for 

medical examiners, coroners, and morticians to deal with loose 

surface contamination, internal contamination, or shrapnel on or 

in decedents’ bodies [CDC 2010v]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Health informatics – Genomic 

Sequence Variation Markup 

Language (GSVML) 

Description: ISO 25720:2009 is applicable to the data exchange 

format that is designed to facilitate the exchange of the genomic 

sequence variation data around the world, without forcing 

change of any database schema. From an informatics 

perspective, GSVML defines the data exchange format based on 

XML. The scope of ISO 25720:2009 is the data exchange 

format, but the database schema itself is outside the scope of this 

International Standard. From a biological point of view, all 

genetic sequence variations are taken into consideration and are 

within the scope of this International Standard, while 

polymorphisms, especially single nucleotide polymorphism 

(SNP), are the main focus of this International Standard [ISO 

2011b]. 

Standard Type: ISO 25720:2009 

Organization: ISO 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interface 

Health Insurance Portability and 

Accountability Act (HIPAA) 

Description: The Health Insurance Portability and 

Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that provides rights 

and protections for participants and beneficiaries in group health 

plans. HIPAA includes protections for coverage under group 

health plans that limit exclusions for preexisting conditions; 

prohibit discrimination against employees and dependents based 

on their health status; and allow a special opportunity to enroll 

in a new plan to individuals in certain circumstances [DOL 

2010]. The Administrative Simplification provisions of the 

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 

(HIPAA, Title II) required the Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) to establish national standards for electronic 

health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, 

health plans, and employers. As the industry has implemented 

these standards, and increased the use of electronic data 
190

interchange, the Nation’s health care system will become 

increasingly effective and efficient [HHS 2010a]. 

Standard Type: HIPAA of 1996 (P.L.104 – 191) 

Organization: Department of Health and Human Services 

(HHS) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Health Insurance Portability and 

Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security 

Rule 

Description: The HIPAA Security Rule establishes national 

standards to protect individuals’ electronic personal health 

information that is created, received, used, or maintained by a 

covered entity. The Security Rule requires appropriate 

administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure the 

confidentiality, integrity, and security of electronic protected 

health information [HHS 2010b]. 

Standard Type: HIPAA Security Rule 164.308 (a)(7)(i) 

Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Health Level Seven (HL7) Standards Description: Health Level Seven is one of several American 

National Standards Institute (ANSI) –accredited Standards 

Developing Organizations (SDOs) operating in the healthcare 

arena. Health Level Seven’s domain is clinical and 

administrative data [HL7 2010]. HL7 standards are used for the 

exchange, management, and integration of electronic healthcare 

information.

Standard Type: ANSI/HL7 V2 XML-2003; ANSI/HL7 V2.5-

2003; ANSI/HL7 V3 DSR, R1-2005, ..... ANSI/HL7 V3 PM, 

R1-2005; ANSI/HL7 V3 CR, R3-2005; ANSI/HL7 V3 MFRI,

R1-2006 

Organization: Health Level Seven (HL7); American National 

Standards Institute (ANSI) 

Classification: Domain-specific integration interfaces 

Infection Control Description: A plan that is used by the hospital to respond to an 

influx, or the risk of an influx, of infectious patients 

[JACHOSTD 2010]. 

Standard Type: IC.6.10 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Interim Guidelines for Hospital 

Response to Mass Casualties from a 

Radiological Incident 

Description: The guidance focuses on six key areas: (1) 

notification and communication, which emphasizes the 

importance of hospitals working with their communities and 

public health agencies on developing emergency communication 

plans; (2) triage; (3) patient management, including 

decontamination, treatment, care of special populations, 

discharge and follow up, and patient mental health concerns; (4) 

healthcare provider protection, including staff training and 

practitioner mental health concerns; (5) surveillance, and (6) 
191

community planning [CDC 2010w]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Interim Life Safety Measures (ILSM) Description: Guidelines for Design and Construction of 

Hospital and Health Care Facilities to minimize the possibility 

of injury or damage due to fire, smoke & fumes, or other threat. 

ILSM are health and safety measures that are put in place to 

protect the safety of patients, visitors, and staff who work in the 

hospital [BMET 2010]. 

Standard Type: ILSM 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Interim Recommendations for 

Firefighters & Other First 

Responders for the Selection & Use 

of Protective Clothing & Respirators 

Against Biological Agents 

Description: This interim statement of selection and use of 

protective clothing and respirators against biological agents is 

based on current understanding of the potential threats and 

existing recommendations issued for biological aerosols. The 

approach to any potentially hazardous atmosphere, including 

biological hazards, must be made with a plan that includes an 

assessment of hazard and exposure potential, respiratory 

protection needs, entry conditions, exit routes, and 

decontamination strategies [CDC 2010x]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

International Classification of 

Diseases 

Description: The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 

is designed to promote international comparability in the 

collection, processing, classification, and presentation of 

mortality statistics. This includes providing a format for 

reporting causes of death on the death certificate. The reported 

conditions are then translated into medical codes through use of 

the classification structure and the selection and modification 

rules contained in the applicable revision of the ICD, published 

by the World Health Organization. These coding rules improve 

the usefulness of mortality statistics by giving preference to 

certain categories, by consolidating conditions, and by 

systematically selecting a single cause of death from a reported 

sequence of conditions. The single selected cause for tabulation 

is called the underlying cause of death, and the other reported 

causes are the non-underlying causes of death. The combination 

of underlying and non-underlying causes is the multiple causes 

of death. The ICD has been revised periodically to incorporate 

changes in the medical field. To date, there have been 10 

revisions of the ICD. [CDC 2010y]. 

Standard Type: ICD-10; ICD-10-CM (ICD-10 Clinical 

Modification) 
192

Organization: The National Center for Health Statistics 

(NCHS); Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Introductory Resource Guide for 

Implementing the Health Insurance 

Portability and Accountability Act 

(HIPAA) Security Rule 

Description: A publication discusses security considerations 

and resources on security terms and concepts used and presented 

in the HIPAA security rule [NIST 2010a]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Maintenance, Testing, and 

Inspection Requirements for Hospital 

Emergency Power System 

Description: A plan that identifies how a hospital maintains, 

tests, and inspects its emergency power system [JCAHOSTD 

2010]. 

Standard Type: EC.7.40 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Managing Hazardous Material 

Incidents (MHMIs) 

Description: The Managing Hazardous Material Incidents

(MHMIs) series was developed to provide emergency medical 

services (EMS) personnel and hospital emergency departments 

(EDs) with the necessary guidance to plan for, and improve their 

ability to respond to, incidents that involve human exposure to 

hazardous materials. The guidelines inform emergency 

personnel how to appropriately decontaminate, treat, and 

recommend follow-up care to exposed persons, as well as take 

measures to protect themselves. The MHMI series contain 3 

volumes: “Emergency medical services: A planning guide for 

the management of contaminated patients;” “Hospital 

emergency departments: A planning guide for the management 

of contaminated patients;” and “Medical management guidelines 

(MMGs) for acute chemical exposures” [ATSDR 2010].

Standard Type: ATSDR MHMIs Version 2001 

Organization: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Mass Casualty Event Preparedness 

and Response 

Description: This document provides information of 

preparedness and response for preparing for a terrorist bombing, 

after a terrorist bombing, coping with a traumatic event, 

emergency wound care, injuries, brain injuries, and burns, etc. 

[CDC 2010aa]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Medical Management Guidelines for 

Chemical Agents 

Description: The document provides a list of chemical medical 

management guidelines for Ammonia, Arsine (SA), Benzene, 
193

Chlorine (CL), Cyanide, Cyanogen chloride (CK), Ethylene 

glycol, Hydrogen cyanide (AC), Lewisite (L, L-1, L-2, L-3), 

Mustard gas (H), Nitrogen mustard (HN-1, HN-2, HN-3), 

Phosgene (CG), Phosphine, Potassium cyanide (KCN), Sarin 

(GB), and Sodium cyanide (NaCN), etc. [CDC 2010i]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Medical Management Guidelines for 

Unidentified Chemicals 

Description: Basic victim management recommendations to 

follow when the chemical is not known [CDC 2010i]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical 

Hazards (NPG) 

Description: The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards 

(NPG) is intended as a source of general industrial hygiene 

information on several hundred chemicals/classes for workers, 

employers, and occupational health professionals. The NPG 

does not contain an analysis of all pertinent data, rather it 

presents key information and data in abbreviated or tabular form 

for chemicals or substance groupings (e.g., cyanides, fluorides, 

manganese compounds) that are found in the work environment. 

The information found in the NPG should help users recognize 

and control occupational chemical hazards [CDC 2010cc]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The National Institute for Occupational Safety & 

Health (NIOSH) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Patient Flow Management Description: Plans that identify and mitigate impediments to 

efficient patient flow throughout the hospital [JCAHOSTD 

2010]. 

Standard Type: LD.3.15 

Organization: The Joint Commission Resources 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Population Monitoring in Radiation 

Emergencies: A Guide for State and 

Local Public Health Planners 

Description: This planners’ guide presents an introduction to 

population monitoring in radiation emergencies for public health 

officials and emergency preparedness planners at the state and 

local levels. It describes how to plan for population monitoring 

and provides practical suggestions to address the many 

challenges it presents when a large population is potentially 

impacted. Population monitoring is the process of identifying, 

screening, and monitoring people for exposure to radiation or 

contamination from radioactive materials [CDC 2010ee]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
194

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Preparing for a Terrorist Bombing: 

A Common Sense Approach 

Description: This document focuses on common sense 

principles that will be useful in a bombing event [CDC 2010p]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Public Health Response to Biological 

& Chemical Terrorism: Interim 

Planning Guidance for State Public 

Health Officials 

Description: This Planning Guidance is designed to help state 

public health officials determine the roles of their departments in 

response to biological and chemical terrorism and to understand 

the emergency response roles of local health departments and 

the emergency management system. The Planning Guidance 

also can be used to help state health departments coordinate their 

efforts with the many agencies and organizations at all levels of 

government that ultimately would respond to a biological or 

chemical terrorism event [CDC 2010l]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational Guidelines 

Roundtable on Population 

Monitoring Following a 

Nuclear/Radiological Incident 

Description: Recommendations & comments from participants 

in CDC’s roundtable (Jan. 11-12, 2005) on challenges associated 

with monitoring people affected by a nuclear or radiological 

incident [CDC 2010hh]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Sheltering in Place during a 

Radiation Emergency 

Description: A fact sheet, prepared by the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, used during a radiation emergency to 

help protect individuals and family and to help prepare a safe 

and well-stocked shelter from exposure to radiation [CDC 

2010ii]. 

Standard Type: N/A 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard for Competence of 

Responders to Hazardous 

Materials/Weapons of Mass 

Destruction Incidents 

Description: The standard identifies the minimum levels of 

competence required by responders to emergencies involving 

hazardous materials/weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It is 

based on the operational philosophies that emergency 

responders should be trained to perform their expected tasks, 

and that a responder cannot safely and effectively respond to a 

terrorism or criminal scenario involving hazmats/WMD if they 
195

don’t first understand basic hazardous materials response 

[NFPA 2010]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 472-2008 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard for Competencies for EMS 

Personnel Responding to Hazardous 

Materials/Weapons of Mass 

Destruction Incidents 

Description: The standard includes qualifications for EMS 

responders to terrorism incidents that involve hazardous 

materials. It identifies the levels of competence required of 

emergency medical services (EMS) personnel who respond to 

hazardous materials incidents. It specifically covers the 

requirements for Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life 

Support (ALS) personnel in the pre-hospital setting [NFPA 

2011]. 

Standard Type: NFPA 473-2008 

Organization: The National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA) 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard Guide for Assessing the 

Health Hazard of Pesticides to 

Applicators and Others with 

Potential Exposure 

Description: This guide covers a stepwise process for using 

information concerning biological, chemical, physical, and 

toxicological properties of a pesticide or other chemical(s), or of 

a formulation to identify adverse effects that may occur to 

pesticide applicators or others with potential exposure [ASTM 

2011]. 

Standard Type: E1429 – 91(2004) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational Guideline 

Standard Guide for Hospital 

Preparedness and Response 

Description: A guide intended to assist the leaders of hospitals

in the design, planning, and response to be undertaken by 

hospitals and health care organizations to an event that 

necessitates the activation of an emergency operations plan 

[ASTM 2011]. 

Standard Type: ASTM E2413 – 04 (2009) 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational guidelines 

Standard Practice for Radiological 

Emergency Response 

Description: This practice provides decision-making 

considerations for response to incidents that involve radioactive 

materials. It provides information and guidance for what to 

include in response planning, and what activities to conduct 

during a response. It should be used in emergency services 

response such as law enforcement, fire department, and 

emergency medical response actions. This practice assumes that 

implementation begins with the recognition of a radiological 

incident and ends when emergency response actions cease or the 

response is assumed by specialized regional, state, or federal 

response teams [ASTM 2011]. 
196

Standard Type: ASTM E2601-08 

Organization: ASTM International 

Classification: Operational guidelines 
197

Appendix E – Data Sources

This appendix lists databases and other sources of data that may be used to develop or run homeland 

security models and simulations. The appendices are organized as follows: 

• E.1 – Hazardous Material Release Data Sources 

• E.2 – Critical Infrastructure Data Sources 

• E.3 – Incident Management Data Sources 

• E.4 – Healthcare Systems Data Sources 

The name of data source, a brief description of its contents, its access location, responsible organization, 

data formats used, as well a classification of the type of data is given below. 

E.1 – Hazardous Material Release Data Sources 

This section identifies databases and other sources of data that may be used to develop or run hazardous 

material release models, and simulations. The name of the data source, a brief description of its contents, 

its access location, responsible organization, data formats used, as well a classification of the type of data 

is given below. 

Data Source Title Overview 

Assessment, Cleanup and 

Redevelopment Exchange System 

(ACRES) 

Description: Brown fields are real property, the expansion, 

redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the 

presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, 

pollutant, or contaminant. The Assessment, Cleanup and 

Redevelopment Exchange System (ACRES) is an online 

database for Brownfields Grantees to electronically submit data 

directly to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the 

environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures 

off green spaces and working lands. ACRES data are shared 

with other online databases [EPA 2010g]. 

Data Source: ACRES, Version, 4.00.030

Organization: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: KML (Keyhole Markup Language) 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents 

Accidental Release Information 

Program (ARIP) Database 

Description: The Accidental Release Information Program 

(ARIP) is contained in a zip file that contains the ARIP database 

file and supporting documentation. The ARIP database collects 

information on accidental releases of hazardous chemicals at 

fixed facilities [EPA 2010p]. 

Data Source: ARIP 98.dbf 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: DBF (Database file name extension); TXT (Text file 

name extension) 

Classification: Incidents; Environment 
198

Aggregated Computational 

Toxicology Resource (ACToR) 

Description: The Aggregated Computational Toxicology 

Resource (ACToR ) is a collection of databases collated or 

developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT). It 

aggregates data from over 500 public sources on over 500,000 

environmental chemicals and is made searchable by chemical 

name and other identifiers and by chemical structure. Chemicals 

include, but are not limited to, high and medium production 

volume industrial chemicals, pesticides (active and inert 

ingredients), and potential ground and drinking water 

contaminants. It provides a connection to another EPA chemical 

screening tool called ToxCast [EPA 2010h]. 

Data Source: ACToR _2010q1b 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: Record; Table 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents 

Areal Locations of Hazardous 

Atmospheres (ALOHA) 

Description: Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres 

(ALOHA), part of Computer-Aided Management of Emergency 

Operations (CAMEO) software suite, is an atmospheric 

dispersion model used for evaluating releases of hazardous 

chemical vapors, including toxic gas clouds, fires, and 

explosions. Using the release information ALOHA generates a 

threat zone estimate. A threat zone is the area where a hazard 

(such as toxicity, flammability, thermal radiation, or damaging 

overpressure) is predicted to exceed a user-specified level of 

concern. Threat zones can also be plotted on maps with 

Mapping Applications for Response, Planning, and Local 

Operational Tasks (MARPLOT). MARPLOT is a mapping 

application that can be used to quickly create, view, and modify 

maps) to display the location of facilities storing hazardous 

materials and vulnerable locations (such as hospitals and 

schools). Specific information about these locations can be 

extracted from Computer-Aided Management of Emergency 

Operations (CAMEO) information modules (that are 

applications used to assist with data management requirements) 

to help make decisions about the degree of hazard posed [EPA 

2010i]. 

Data Source: ALOHA, Version 5.4.1.2 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 

National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Format: Map; Data 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents; Spatial 

Bibliography on Alternatives to the 

Use of Live Vertebrates in 

Biomedical Research and Testing 

(ALTBIB) 

Description: ALTBIB stands for Bibliography on Alternatives 

to the Use of Live Vertebrates in Biomedical Research and 

Testing. The bibliography is to assist in identifying methods and 

procedures helpful in supporting the development, testing, 

application, and validation of alternatives to the use of 

vertebrates in biomedical research and toxicology testing. 

ALTBIB only maintains information for years 1980-2000 [NIH 
199

2010a]. 

Data Source: ALTBIB; PubMed 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: TXT (Text file name extension) 

Classification: Resources; Controlling Documents; 

Environment 

Chemical Reactivity Worksheet 

(CRW) 

Description: The Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW) is a 

program that allows users to investigate the reactivity of 

substances or mixtures of substances. CRW includes a database 

of reactivity information for more than 5,000 common 

hazardous chemicals and offers a way to virtually “mix” 

chemicals—as well as water—to discover what chemical 

combinations are reactive. CRW also allows users to build a 

“Custom Chemical Database” containing all the unique 

materials that are present at a particular facility. CRW has been 

upgraded by NOAA to include a new FileMaker Runtime user 

interface, which makes it compatible with the latest computer 

operating systems. The database includes information about the 

intrinsic hazards of each chemical and about whether a chemical 

reacts with air, water, or other materials. It also includes case 

histories on specific chemical incidents, with references [NOAA 

2010b]. 

Data Source: CRW, Version 2.0.2 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); 

National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Format: Report 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents; Incidents 

Climate Monitoring Description: The National Climatic data Center provides a 

service to monitor climate. It allows to search state of the 

climate, U.S. products (such as weekly maps and societal 

impacts) , global products, drought monitoring, U.S. and global 

extremes, hurricanes/tropical storms, tornadoes, snow and ice 

data, climate information record data, special reports, other 

products (such as hazards support, and stratospheric ozone), and 

climate and network monitoring [NOAA 2010c]. 

Data Source: NOAA Climate Monitoring

Organization: National Climatic Data Center of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

Format: TXT; XML (Extensible Markup Language); RSS 

(Really Simple Syndication) 

Classification: Resources; Controlling Documents; 

Environment; Demographic and Behavioral 

Comprehensive Environmental 

Response, Compensation and 

Liability Information System 

(CERCLIS) 

Description: The Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) 

contains information on hazardous waste sites, potentially 

hazardous waste sites and remedial activities across the Nation. 

The CERCLIS Public Access Database contains a selected set of 
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“non-enforcement confidential” information and is updated by 

the regions every 90 days. The data describes what has 

happened at Superfund sites prior to this quarter (updated 

quarterly). This database includes lists of involved parties (other 

Federal Agencies, states, and tribes), Human Exposure and 

Ground Water Migration, and Site Wide Ready for Reuse, 

Construction Completion, and Final Assessment Decision 

(GPRA-like measures) for fund lead sites. Other information 

that is included has been included only as a service to allow 

public evaluations utilizing this data [EPA 2010j]. 

Data Source: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Superfund Site 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: DBF (Database file name extension) 

Classification: Environment; Resources; Controlling 

Documents 

Computer-Aided Management of 

Emergency Operations (CAMEO) 

Chemical Database 

Description: Computer-Aided Management of Emergency 

Operations (CAMEO) has an extensive chemical database with 

critical response information for thousands of chemicals, and a 

tool that tells you what reactions might occur if chemicals were 

mixed together [EPA 2010k]. 

Data Source: CAMEO Chemicals, Version 2.0.1 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 

National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Format: Report 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents 

ECOTOX Database Description: ECOTOX is a comprehensive database, which 

provides information on adverse effects of single chemical 

stressors to ecologically relevant aquatic and terrestrial species. 

ECOTOX includes more than 400,000 test records covering 

5,900 aquatic and terrestrial species and 8,400 chemicals. The 

primary source of ECOTOX data is the peer-reviewed literature, 

with test results identified through comprehensive searches of 

the open literature. ECOTOX also includes third-party data 

collections from U.S. EPA Program Offices, the U.S. Geologic 

Survey, Russia, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation 

and Development (OECD) member nations [EPA 2010l]. 

Data Source: ECOTOX Release 4.0 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: XLS (Microsoft Excel file format); Delimited ASCII 

file; Report 

Classification: Environment; Incidents 

Envirofacts Data Warehouse Description: Envirofacts, a single point of access to select U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental data. Its 

website provides access to several EPA databases to provide the 

users with information about environmental activities that may 

affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. With 

Envirofacts, the users can generate maps of environmental 
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information. Envirofacts provides a feature that allows the user 

to retrieve a sampling of information pertaining to the user’s 

area by entering a specific ZIP Code, City and State, or County 

and State. It also provides more in-depth information about a 

particular subject area, such as Air, Waste, Facility, Land, Toxic 

Releases, Compliance, Water, Radiation, and Other [EPA 

2010m]. 

Data Source: Envirofacts – MultiSystem Search Form 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) 

Classification: Incidents, Environment; Resources; Spatial 

Environmental Sensitivity Index 

(ESI) Maps 

Description: NOAA’s Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) is 

the most widely used approach to sensitive environment 

mapping in the United States. 

 This approach systematically compiles information in standard 

formats for coastal shoreline sensitivity, biological resources, 

and human-use resources. ESI maps are useful for identifying 

sensitive resources before a spill occurs so that protection 

priorities can be established and cleanup strategies designed in 

advance. Using ESIs in spill response reduces environmental 

consequences of the spill and cleanup efforts. ESI maps provide 

a concise summary of coastal resources that are at risk if an oil 

spill occurs nearby. Examples of at-risk resources include 

biological resources (such as birds and shellfish beds), sensitive 

shorelines (such as marshes and tidal flats), and human-use 

resources (such as public beaches and parks) [NOAA 2010d]. 

Data Source: National Ocean Service (NOS) Data Explorer 

Organization: National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA) 

Format: MAP; PDF (Portable Document Format); SHP; .E00 

(Arc/Info export format); MOSS; Geo-database 

Classification: Environment; Spatial; Resources; Incidents 

Global Environment Outlook (GEO) 

Data Portal 

Description: The GEO Data Portal is the authoritative source 

for data sets used by United Nations Environment Programme 

(UNEP) and its partners in the Global Environment Outlook 

(GEO) report and other integrated environment assessments. Its 

online database holds more than 450 different variables, as 

national, sub-regional, regional and global statistics or as geospatial data sets (maps), covering themes like Freshwater, 

Population, Forests, Emissions, Climate, Disasters, Health and 

GDP. Data may be displayed on the fly as maps, graphs, data 

tables, or downloaded in different formats [UNEP 2010]. 

Data Source: Geo Data Portal 

Organization: United Nations Environment Programme 

(UNEP) 

Format: CSV (comma-separated values); HTML; SHP; PDF 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents; 

Demographic and Behavioral; Spatial; Resources 
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Hazardous Waste Data Description: Hazardous waste data is contained in the Resource 

Conservation and Recovery Act Information (RCRAInfo), a 

national program management and inventory system about 

hazardous waste handlers. In general, all generators, 

transporters, treaters, storers, and disposers of hazardous waste 

are required to provide information about their activities to state 

environmental agencies, which is then transmitted to the United 

States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA, in 

cooperation with the States, biennially collects information 

regarding the generation, management, and final disposition of 

hazardous wastes. Collection, validation and verification of the 

Biennial Report (BR) data is the responsibility of RCRA 

authorized states and regions [EPA 2010n]. 

Data Source: RCRAInfo 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: PDF 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 

Hazards Data Distribution System 

(HDDS) 

Description: Hazards Data Distribution System (HDDS) 

provides quick downloads of U.S. and international disaster 

response imagery. Its data access and delivery services are 

provided by the following interfaces: non-graphical download, 

status-graphic download, and map interface. The users can select 

pre-event/baseline or event/disaster response. Users are able to 

obtain full-resolution GeoTIFF images or JPEG images at 

medium and low quality compressions [USGS 2010]. 

Data Source: HDDS 

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey, Center for Earth 

Resources Observation and Science (EROS) 

Format: GeoTIFF; JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), 

CSV; SHP; KML 

Classification: Incidents; Spatial; Environment; Simulation 

Support 

LandView Description: The LandView database system allows users to 

retrieve Census 2000 demographic and housing data, EPA 

Envirofacts data and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) information. 

The GNIS contains over 1.2 million records which show the 

official federally recognized geographic names for all known 

places, features, and areas in the United States that are identified 

by a proper name [CENSUS 2010]. 

Data Source: LandView 6 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. 

Census Bureau, and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National 

Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

Format: Data; MAP 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior; Spatial; 

Environment; Resources 
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Multi-angle Imaging Spectro 

Radiometer Instrument (MISR) 

Description: The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer 

instrument (MISR) provides radiometrically and geometrically 

calibrated images in four spectral bands at each of the angles. 

MISR measurements are designed to improve our understanding 

of the Earth’s environment and climate. MISR provides new 

types of information for scientists studying Earth’s climate, such 

as the partitioning of energy and carbon between the land 

surface and the atmosphere, and the regional and global impacts 

of different types of atmospheric particles and clouds on climate. 

MISR data are processed and archived at the NASA Langley 

Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) 

[NASA 2010b]. 

Data Source: ASDC Data Pool 

Format: HDF-EOS (Hierarchical Data Format- Earth Observing 

System) 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 

National Response Center (NRC) 

Download Data 

Description: The National Response Center (NRC), the Federal 

Government’s national communications center, is staffed 24 

hours a day by U.S. Coast Guard officers and marine science 

technicians and serves as the sole federal point of contact for 

reporting all hazardous substances and oil spills. The NRC 

maintains reports of all releases and spills in a national database. 

The NRC has made available yearly data files for download and 

offline management. Each file represents a particular calendar 

year and contains data related to incidents that occurred during 

that year. NRC report categories include aircraft report, 

continuous release report, fixed report, mobile report, pipeline 

report, platform report, railroad report, sheen report, storage tank 

report, and vessel report [USCG 2010]. 

Data Source: NRC DOWNLOAD DATA 

Organization: National Response Center 

Format: XLS; HTML 

Classification: Incidents; Environment; Controlling Documents 

Plume Databases Description: The National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration’s plume databases provide plume data such as 

plume source latitude, plume source longitude, plume direction, 

date, orbit number, orbit block, and MISR (Multi-angle Imaging 

Spectro-Radiometer) coordinates [NASA 2010c]. 

Data Source: Plume Database: 2006-01-19 and 2006-02-06 

Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) 

Format: CSV 

Classification: Environment 

Radiation Information Database 

(RADINFO) 

Description: The Radiation Information Database (RADINFO) 

contains information about facilities that are regulated by U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for 

radiation and radioactivity. The RADINFO Query allows users 

to retrieve selected data from RADINFO database in 
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Envirofacts. Specify the facilities by using any combination of 

facility name, geographic location, standard industrial 

classification, and chemicals. There are two search parameters: 

location data and regulator data [EPA 2010o]. 

Data Source: RADINFO Query 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: Record; Table 

Classification: Resources; Environment 

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) 

Forecast Products 

Description: The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) of the National 

Weather Service (NWS) is providing tornado/severe 

thunderstorm watches, meso-scale discussions, convective day 

1-3 outlooks, fire weather outlooks, and watch, warning and 

advisory display through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) 

[NOAA 2010e]. 

Data Source: SPC Products RSS Feeds 

Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) 

Format: RSS 

Classification: Incidents; Demographic and Behavior 

TOXicology Data NETwork 

(TOXNET) 

Description: TOXNET (TOXicology data NETwork) is a 

cluster of databases covering toxicology, hazardous chemicals, 

environmental health and related areas. The Toxicology and 

Environmental Health Information Program (TEHIP) in the 

Division of Specialized Information Services (SIS) of the 

National Library of Medicine (NLM) manages it. Toxicology 

databases include: Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB), 

Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), International 

Toxicity Estimates for Risk (ITER), Chemical Carcinogenesis 

Research Information System (CCRIS), Genetic Toxicology 

(GENE-TOX), Toxicology interactive guide (Tox Town), 

Household Products Database, occupational toxicology database 

(Haz-Map), toxic chemicals released on map (TOXMAP), 

Drugs and Lactation (LacMed), and Carcinogenic Potency 

Database (CPDB) [NIH 2010b]. 

Data Source: TOXNET 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: Report; XML 

Classification: Controlling Documents; Demographic and 

Behavior; Environment 

Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Description: The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly 

available EPA database that contains information on toxic 

chemical releases and waste management activities reported 

annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities. 

TRI.Net – is a high performance Data Engine for querying the 

Toxics Release Inventory. The tool has capabilities to analyze 

TRI data effectively, by using Ad hoc queries and integrating 

them with mapping technologies. It is highly interactive and 

provides a quick and efficient analytical response. Supports very 
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large queries and complex trends [EPA 2010q]. 

Data Source: Toxics Release Inventory, TRI.NET 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: CSV; MAP 

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents 

TRI Explorer Database Description: TRI Explorer is a searchable online database that 

lets users quickly get information about releases and transfers 

and other waste management [EPA 2010r]. 

Data Source: TRI Explorer, Version 5.02 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: XLS 

Classification: Environment 

Vulnerable Zone Indicator System 

(VZIS) 

Description: The Vulnerable Zone Indicator System (VZIS) 

allows the user to quickly find out if an address of interest to the 

user – the home, place of work, or child’s school – could be 

affected by a chemical accident. VZIS can be used to determine 

whether the address may be in the vulnerable zone of a facility 

that submitted a Risk Management Plan (RMP). Use a street 

address or Latitude & Longitude to submit the request [EPA 

2010s]. 

Data Source: VZIS 

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format: EMAIL 

Classification: Incidents; Environment 

Wireless Information System for 

Emergency Responders (WISER) 

Description: WISER is a system designed to assist first 

responders in hazardous material incidents. WISER provides a 

wide range of information on hazardous substances, including 

substance identification support, physical characteristics, human 

health information, and containment and suppression advice 

[NIH 2010c]. 

Data Source: WISER, Version 4.3; WebWISER; WISER for 

BlackBerry, Version 1.0; WISER for iPhone/iPod touch, 

Version 1.0 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Incidents; Controlling Documents; Demographic 

and Behavior; Environment 

E.2 – Critical Infrastructure Data Sources 

This section identifies databases and other sources of data that may be used to develop or run critical 

infrastructure system models, simulations, and training applications. The name of data source, a brief

description of its contents, its access location, responsible organization, data formats used, as well a 

classification of the type of data is given below. 
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Data Source Title Overview 

American Community Survey (ACS) Description: The American Community Survey (ACS) is a 

nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh 

look at how they are changing. It is a critical element in the 

Census Bureau’s reengineered decennial census program. The 

ACS collects and produces population and housing information 

every year instead of every ten years. The ACS FTP Site 

contains data from the American Community Survey as they 

are released. The FTP site contains data tables from all years 

of the ACS, Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Files, the 

ACS Summary Files, table shells, archived from the 1996 – 

2004 ACS, and more [CENSUS 2011b]. 

Data Source: ACS FTP Site 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau (USCS) 

Format Used: PDF; Excel 

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral 

American FactFinder Description: The American FactFinder, an on-line tool, 

provides data in the form of maps, tables, and reports from a 

variety of Census Bureau sources. Information provided by the 

American FactFinder includes basic demographic; social and 

economic data; popular statistics tables on people, housing, and 

business and government; censuses and surveys; etc. The 

Census Bureau conducts many censuses and surveys. The most 

well-known is the official population census of the United 

States, called the decennial census. It is conducted every ten 

years, most recently in April 2010. During each decennial 

census, the Census Bureau collects data from every household 

in the U.S. and its territories [CENSUS 2011c]. 

Data Source: American FactFinder 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau 

Format Used: Shapefile; Excel; ASCII 

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral 

American Hospital Association (AHA) 

Database 

Description: American Hospital Association (AHA) Database 

contains data for every hospital in the U.S. The data is collected 

from AHA annually survey. Non-responding hospital data are 

estimated using advanced methods to approximate specific data 

elements. The AHA Annual Survey Database for Fiscal Year 

2009 has more than 700 fields of data and information on 

6,000+ hospitals. Included in the database are demographic 

information, organizational structure, facilities and services, 

utilization data, community orientation indicators, physician 

arrangements, managed care relationships, expenses and 

staffing [AHADATA 2011]. 

Data Source: American Hospital Association (AHA) 

Database; Hospital Detail Report Wizard; Hospital Market 

Analysis Wizard; Healthcare Systems and Networks Report 
207

Wizard 

Organization: American Hospital Association (AHA) 

Format Used: Excel; ASCII; PDF 

Classification: Resources; Demographic and Behavioral 

American Hospital Directory’s Data 

Services 

Description: The American Hospital Directory (AHD) 

provides data and statistics about more than 6,000 hospitals 

nationwide. The database of information about hospitals is built 

from both public and private sources including Medicare claims 

data, hospital cost reports, and other files obtained from the 

federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). 

AHD is not affiliated with the American Hospital Association 

and is not a source for AHA Data. Users use their search tools 

to explore their database of hospital information. Key statistics 

may be summarized by hospital, state, and Nation. Statistics 

include bed size, discharges, patient days, and gross patient 

revenue [AHD 2011]. 

Data Source: AHD’s Data Services, AHD’s Quick Search; 

AHD’s Advanced Search 

Organization: American Hospital Directory (AHD) 

Format Used: .CSV; ASCII; Excel 

Classification: Resources; Demographic and Behavioral 

American Housing Survey (AHS) Description: The American Housing Survey (AHS) collects 

data on the Nation’s housing, including apartments, singlefamily homes, mobile homes, vacant housing units, household 

characteristics, income, housing and neighborhood quality, 

housing costs, equipment and fuels, size of housing unit, and 

recent movers. National data are collected in odd numbered 

years, and data for each of 47 selected Metropolitan Areas are 

collected currently about every six years. The national sample 

covers an average 55,000 housing units. Each metropolitan area 

sample covers 4,100 or more housing units. The Bureau of the 

Census conducts the survey for the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD). The Data Access includes three 

categories: National Data, Metropolitan Data, and Dates 

metropolitan Areas are Surveyed [CENSUS 2011d].

Data Source: AHS Data Access

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau (USCS) 

Format Used: Excel; PDF 

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral 

Automated Critical Asset 

Management System (ACAMS) 

Description: Automated Critical Asset Management System 

(ACAMS) is a web-enabled information services portal that 

helps state and local governments build CIKR protection 

programs in their local jurisdictions. ACAMS is a secure, 

online database, and database management platform that allows 

for the collection and management of CIKR asset data; the 

cataloguing, screening, and sorting of this data; the production 

of tailored infrastructure reports; and the development of a 

variety of pre- and post-incident response plans useful to 
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strategic and operational planners and tactical commanders 

[DHS 2011c]. 

Data Source: ACAMS 

Organization: Department of Homeland Security/Office of 

Infrastructure Protection 

Format Used: TXT; PDF; Keyhole Markup Language (KML) 

Classification: Resources; Controlling Documents 

Bureau of Transportation 

Statistics(BTS) Data and Statistics 

Description: Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) is a 

part of U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and 

Innovative Technology Administration (RITA). BTS 

established itself with a focus in three key areas, each mandated 

by legislation: 1) compiling, analyzing, and publishing a 

comprehensive set of transportation statistics; 2) making 

statistics readily accessible; and 3) implementing a long term 

data collection program. BTS’ data and statistics includes 

Airline Traffic Data, Airline Data, Airline On-Time Data, 

Border Crossing/Entry Data, Commodity Flow Survey, Freight 

Data and Statistics, Intermodal Passenger Connectivity 

Database, International Data, National Transportation Atlas 

Database, National Transportation Statistics, Passenger Travel 

Data Sources, TranStats – Multimodal Transportation

Database, and others [BTS 2011]. 

Data Source: RITA Site 

Organization: U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) 

Format Used: PDF; Excel; CVS; Table; Maps 

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral; Incidents 

ChicagoMaps Description: ChicagoMaps provides information on citizen 

services and physical infrastructure components in the city. 

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is used to manage street 

and building inventories, dispatch services, and maintenance of 

underground utilities [CHICAGO 2011]. 

Data Source: Chicago GIS Portal 

Organization: City of Chicago 

Format Used: GIF 

Classification: Resources; Spatial 

Community Collaborative Rain, Hail 

and Snow Observations (CoCoRaHS) 

Reports 

Description: The National Weather Service (NWS) supports 

the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow 

(CoCoRaHS) network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, 

community-based network of volunteers of all ages and 

backgrounds working together to measure and map 

precipitation (rain, snow, and hail). The network has 20,000 

active observers in all 50 states. CoCoRaHS provides reports 

on daily precipitation, significant weather, multiple day 

accumulation, drought impact, etc. [COCO 2011]. 

Data Source: CoCoRaHS 

Organization: CoCoRaHS network 

Format Used: KML 

Classification: Environment 
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Computer-Aided Management of 

Emergency Operations (CAMEO) 

Description: CAMEO is a system of software applications 

used widely to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies. 

CAMEO can also be used to navigate between ALOHA (Areal 

Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres), MARPLOT (Mapping 

Applications for Response, Planning, and Local Operational 

Tasks), and the downloadable version of CAMEO Chemicals. 

All modules work interactively to share and display critical 

information in a timely fashion. The CAMEO system is 

available in Macintosh and Windows formats. CAMEO is a 

database application that includes eight modules (such as 

Facilities and Contacts) to assist with data management 

requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community 

Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). The system includes a chemical 

database of over 6,000 hazardous chemicals, 80,000 synonyms, 

and product trade names. It provides a search engine to find 

chemicals instantly for support making plan for and respond to 

chemical emergencies [EPA 2011a].

Data Source: CAMEOfm Version 2.0 

Organization: Environment Protection Agency (EPA); 

National Oceanic; Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 

Format Used: ASCII

Classification: Environment; Controlling Documents 

Consolidated Database System 

(CDBS) 

Description: The FCC Media Bureau is responsible for 

licensing broadcast services in the Unites States. The licensing 

information for broadcast radio (AM and FM) and television 

(TV, LPTV, and DTV) is contained in the Consolidated 

Database System (CDBS).The CDBS is used to track the filing 

and completion of broadcast construction permit, license, 

renewal, ownership, assignment of license (sale of station), 

transfer of control (change of ownership structure), and EEO 

(Equal Employment Opportunity) applications. The CDBS 

Public Access links access web pages that provide the ability to 

search and retrieve information from FCC Media Bureau 

databases for broadcast stations, and for certain EEO 

information for broadcast stations and Cable and MVPD 

(Multi-channel Video Programming Distributor) employment 

units [FCC 2011]. 

Data Source: CDBS Public Searches 

Organization: Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 

Format Used: PDF; HTML 

Classification: Resources 

DC Atlas Description: The DC Atlas is a web-based tool that contains 

over 150 map layers arranged in various overlay categories. 

Each overlay grouping is interactive, allowing users to zoom in 

and out, move to different places, and identify features for more 

information. The DC Atlas provides detailed maps with GIS 

functionality. The information can be retrieved from its All-inOne Service. Additionally, maps and information can be 
210

printed. The service provides access to a wide range of 

planimetric, cultural, environment datasets enabling users to 

create their own maps easily and quickly [DC 2011]. 

Data Source: DC Atlas All-In-One 

Organization: Government of the District of Columbia 

Format Used: TXT; CSV; Shapefile; MXD (ArcGIS Map 

Document) 

Classification: Incidents; Environment; Resources; Spatial, 

Demographic and Behavioral 

Digital Terrain Elevation Data 

(DTED) 

Description: Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) is a 

uniform matrix of terrain elevation values. It provides basic 

quantitative data for systems and applications that require 

terrain elevation, slope, and/or surface roughness information.

DTED is produced at three different levels of detail. The three 

classes of DTED are known as DTED Level 0, DTED Level 1, 

and DTED Level 2. DTED Level 0 elevation post spacing is 30 

arc second (nominally one kilometer). DTED Level 0 may be 

of value to scientific, technical, and other communities for and 

applications that require terrain elevation, slope, and/or surface 

roughness information. DTED Level 1 is the basic medium 

resolution elevation data source for all military activities and 

systems that require landform, slope, elevation, and/or gross 

terrain roughness in a digital format. DTED Level 2 is the 

basic high resolution elevation data source for all military 

activities and systems that require landform, slope, elevation, 

and/or terrain roughness in a digital format. Distribution of 

DTED and the Digital Data Products catalog is authorized to 

the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), DoD contractors, and 

to U.S. Government agencies that support DoD functions. 

[NGA 2011a]. 

Data Source: DTED Level 0; DTED Level 1; and DTED 

Level 2 

Organization: National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency (NGA) 

Format Used: ASCII 

Classification: Spatial 

Earth Observing System (EOS) Data 

Services 

Description: The Earth Observing System (EOS) is a 

coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination 

satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, 

biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans. EOS is a major 

component of the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science 

Mission Directorate. EOS enables an improved understanding 

of the Earth as an integrated system. The EOS Data Gateway 

(EDG) is the primary interface to all data available in NASA’s 

Earth Observation System Data Information System, and 

related data centers. With EDG, a user can search for and 

acquire a large variety of earth, ocean, and atmospheric science 

data obtained from EOS instruments such as MODIS and 

MISR, as well as other satellites such as Landsat [NASA 2011]. 
211

Data Source: EOS Data Gateway (EDG) 

Organization: National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

(NASA) 

Format Used: TXT 

Classification: Environment 

Emergency Preparedness Resource 

Inventory (EPRI) 

Description: Emergency Preparedness Resource Inventory 

(EPRI) is a Web-based tool allowing local or regional planners 

to assemble an inventory of critical resources that would be 

useful in responding to a bioterrorist attack. It can be 

customized for any region, state, or locality. EPRI creates 

automated reports for use in preparedness and planning as well 

as incident response [AHRQ 2011b]. 

Data Source: Emergency Preparedness Resource Inventory 

(EPRI)

Organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 

(AHRQ) 

Format Used: ASCII

Classification: Resources; Incidents 

Energy Information Administration 

(EIA) Energy Information 

Description: The U.S. Energy Information Administration 

(EIA) collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and 

impartial energy information to promote sound policymaking, 

efficient markets, and public understanding of energy and its 

interaction with the economy and the environment. EIA 

provides a wide range of information and data products 

covering energy production, stocks, demand, imports, exports, 

and prices; and prepares analyses and special reports on topics 

of current interest. The EIA information is disseminated in 

different ways, including reports, web products, press releases, 

databases, and maps; it is issued weekly, monthly, annually, 

and periodically as needed or requested. EIA information 

covers data on coal, crude oil, diesel, electricity, gasoline, 

general energy, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable [EIA 2011]. 

Data Source: EIA Site 

Organization: U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) 

Format Used: RSS; ASCII; PDF; Table; Maps 

Classification: Environment; Resources 

Envirofacts Description: The Envirofact Multisystem Search allows the 

users to search multiple environmental databases for facility 

information, including toxic chemical releases, water discharge 

permit compliance, hazardous waste handling processes, 

Superfund status, and air emission estimates. Search the 

Envirofacts data using any combination of the following 

criteria: facility name, geography, facility industrial 

classification, or pollutant. Envirofacts offers several choices 

for downloading data: EZ Searcher, Custom Searches, and 

Geo-spatial Download. Through different search options, users 

can select data from EPA’s Facility Registry System (FRS), 

Locational Reference Database, Toxics Release Inventory 
212

(TRI), Permit Compliance System (PCS), and RadNet 

(formerly the Environmental Radiation Ambient Monitoring 

System (ERAMS) and build reports or files [EPA 2011b]. 

Data Source: Envirofacts Multisystem Search

Organization: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

Format Used: Table; CSV; XML; KML; Shapefile; 

Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Feature 

Class 

Classification: Environmental; Resources 

Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation (FDIC) Data and 

Statistics 

Description: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 

(FDIC) provides detailed information on an institution-level 

basis in their Institution Directory. Statistics at a Glance 

provides a view of the industry's overall picture. This includes 

the latest quarterly data (Current Snapshot) that defines the 

banking industry, as well as the most recent trends (Industry 

Trends). The FDIC Quarterly Banking Profile identifies the 

latest performance trends in the industry and the state (QBP 

State Tables - annual and quarterly data for large and small 

institutions go back to 1995). Branching and deposit market 

share information is available through Summary of Deposits 

and Deposit Market Share Report. These sites present 

aggregates of each institution's deposits in any combined 

choice of states, metro areas, cities, counties or zip codes. 

Statistics on Depository Institutions allows the user to create 

custom "ad hoc" Peer Groups, reports and downloads; analyze 

prospective mergers, classes of competitors; compare up to four 

columns of data. The Failed Bank List page has a separate Web 

page for each bank closed since October of 2000. The FDIC 

also has many historical studies that can be found on the 

Research & Analysis page [FDIC 2011]. 

Data Source: FDIC Site 

Organization: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) 

Format Used: ASCII; PDF; Excel; CVS; Table; Maps 

Classification: Resources 

Geodatabase Description: The Geodatabase is a storage and management 

framework for geographic information systems (GIS) Data. It 

combines “geo” (spatial data) with “database” (data repository) 

to create a central data repository for spatial data storage and 

management. It is designed to store, query, and manipulate 

geographic information and spatial data. The Geodatabase 

Toolset (GDBT) 9.3/9.3.1 is available for monitoring, 

investigating, and reporting the performance of multiuser 

geodatabase [ESRI 2011b].

Data Source: GEODATABASE Toolset (GDBT) 

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey 

Format Used: SQL 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 
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Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) Description: The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

creates Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) products using 

imagery, geospatial and targeting analysis, image sciences and 

modeling for U.S. national defense and disaster relief. GEOINT 

Online (GO) is a grouping of web-based capabilities for an ondemand discovery of and access to GEOINT content, services, 

expertise, and support. The most important capability that 

GEOINT Online can provide is integrated discovery and access 

to GEOINT. The user will be able to browse and search all 

NGA holdings—whether they are intelligence reports, imagery, 

maps and charts, presentations, documents, or files—regardless 

of where they are stored. GO currently enables users to 

Customize communities of practice/interest pages, Share 

content and services through online communities of 

practice/interest, Notify users of domestic and foreign events, 

Use advanced visualization and analytics functionality with 

appropriate plug-ins, and Discover and access geospatial 

information [NGA 2011b]. 

Data Source: GEOINT Online 

Organization: National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency (NGA) 

Format Used: ASCII; PDF; Excel; CVS; Table; Maps 

Classification: Spatial; Investigative Intelligence 

Geo-spatial Multi-Agency 

Coordination Group (GeoMAC) 

Description: The Geo-spatial Multi-Agency Coordination 

Group (GeoMAC) is an internet-based mapping application 

originally designed for fire managers to access online maps of 

current fire locations and perimeters in the conterminous 48 

States and Alaska. Using a standard web browser, fire 

personnel can view this information to pinpoint the affected 

areas. With the growing concern of western wildland fires in 

the summer of 2000, this application has also become available 

to the public. In order to give fire managers near real-time 

information, fire perimeter data is updated daily based upon 

input from incident intelligence sources, GPS data, infrared 

(IR) imagery from fixed wing and satellite platforms. The 

GeoMAC web site allows users in remote locations to

manipulate map information displays, zoom in and out to 

display fire information at various scales and detail, and print 

hard copy maps for use in fire information and media briefings, 

dispatch offices and coordination centers. The fire maps also 

have relational databases in which the user can display 

information on individual fires such as name of the fire, current 

acreage and other fire status information [GEOMAC 2011]. 

Data Source: GeoMAC Group 

Organization: U.S. Department of the Interior; U.S. 

Department of Agriculture; National Interagency Fire Center; 

U.S. Geological Survey 

Format Used: Feeds; ASCII; XML 

Classification: Spatial; Environment 
214

Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Description: The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an 

open-source database including information on terrorist events 

around the world from 1970 through 2008 (with additional 

annual updates planned for the future). Unlike many other 

event databases, the GTD includes systematic data on domestic 

as well as transnational and international terrorist incidents that 

have occurred during this time period and now includes more 

than 87,000 cases. For each GTD incident, information is 

available on the date and location of the incident, the weapons 

used and nature of the target, the number of casualties, and–

when identifiable–the group or individual responsible [UMD 

2011]. 

Data Source: GTD online interface; “GTD Contact Form” 

request 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security; 

National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses 

to Terrorism 

Format Used: CSV 

Classification: Incidents; Demographic and Behavioral 

Google Earth Description: Offers maps and satellite images for complex or 

pinpointed regional searches [GOOGLE 2011]. 

Data Source: Google Earth 6.0; Google Earth Pro 

Organization: Google 

Format Used: KLM; KMZ; COLLADA 

Classification: Spatial 

Government Datasets Description: The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public 

access to high value, machine readable data sets generated by 

the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Data.gov 

provides descriptions of the Federal data sets (metadata), 

information about how to access the data sets and tools that 

leverage government datasets. Data.gov includes searchable 

catalogs that provide access to “raw” data sets and various

tools. Catalogs offers “Raw” Data catalog, Tool Catalog, and 

Geodata Catalog. “Raw” Data Catalog provides users with 

instant view/download of platform-independent, machinereadable data as well as a link to a metadata page specific to the 

respective dataset. Tool Catalog provides the public with 

simple, application-driven access to Federal data with 

hyperlinks and features widgets, data mining and extraction 

tools, applications, and other services. Geodata Catalog

provides trusted, authoritative, Federal geo-spatial through 

links to download the datasets and a metadata page with details 

on the datasets, as well as links to more detailed Federal 

Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) metadata information. 

The categories used by “Raw” Data Category and Tool 

Category include Agriculture; Art, Recreation, and Travel;

Banking, Finance, and Insurance; Births, Deaths, marriages, 

and Divorces; Business Enterprise; Construction and housing; 

Educations; Energy and Utilities; Federal Government 
215

Finances, and Employment; Foreign Commerce and Aid;

Geography and Environment; Health and Nutrition; Income, 

Expenditures, Poverty, and Wealth; Information and 

Communication; International Statistics; Labor Force, 

Employment, and earning; Law Enforcement, Courts, and 

Prisons, national Security and Veterans Affairs; Natural 

Resources; Other; Population; Prices; Science and Technology; 

Social Insurance and Human Services; State and Local 

Government Finances and Employment; Transportation; and 

Wholesale and Retail trade. 

The categories used by Geodata Category include: Biology 

and Ecology; Administrative and Political Boundaries; 

Atmospheric and Climatic; Business and Economic; Elevation 

and Derived Products; Environment and Conservation;

Agriculture and Geophysical; Human Health and Disease; 

Imagery and base Maps; Inland Water Resources; Military; 

Locations and Geodetic Networks; Oceans and Estuaries; 

Cadastral; Cultural, Society, and Demographics; Facilities and 

Structures; Transportation Network; and Utilities and 

Communication [DATA 2011]. 

Data Source: Data.gov Catalogs

Organization: General Services Administration; Federal Chief 

Information Officer (CIO) Council 

Format Used: XML; Keyhole Markup Language (KML); 

Compressed Keyhole Markup Language (KMZ); Shapefile; 

PDF; CSV; TXT; XLS; Feeds; Chart 

Classification: Resources; Environment; Demographic and 

Behavioral 

Integrated Common Analytical 

Viewer (iCAV) 

Description: The Office of Infrastructure Protection's 

Infrastructure Information Collection Division (IICD) leads the 

Department’s efforts to gather and manage vital information 

regarding the Nation’s critical infrastructure and key resources 

(CIKR). Accurate CIKR data is essential to developing and 

executing infrastructure protection programs at all levels of 

government. IICD helps ensure needed infrastructure data is 

available to homeland security partners by identifying 

information sources and developing applications to use and 

analyze CIKR data. As part of this effort, IICD developed and 

maintains the Infrastructure Data Taxonomy, a common 

terminology for communicating about critical infrastructure. A 

suite of Web-based visualization tools available through IICD's 

Integrated Common Analytical Viewer (iCAV) provide this 

comprehensive perspective by enabling users to selectively 

view and analyze infrastructure data from multiple sources in a 

dynamic map [IICD 2011]. 

Data Source: iCAV 

Organization: DHS 

Format Used: KML 

Classification: Resources; Demographic and Behavioral; 

Environment; Incidents 
216

Interactive GIS Web Mapping 

Applications 

Description: The web applications, GIS-NET, SUB-NET, 

OVOV-NET, and Z-NET allow for interactively viewing and 

investigating zoning, land use policy, subdivision activity, 

aerial imagery, and many other features pertaining to land use 

within the unincorporated communities of Los Angeles County. 

GIS-NET provides geographic information regarding land use 

planning and zoning for the unincorporated areas of Los 

Angeles County. SUB-NET provides geographic information 

regarding subdivision activity in the unincorporated areas of 

Los Angeles County. OVOV-NET provides geographic 

information regarding land use planning and zoning for the 

incorporated areas of Santa Clarita Valley in the Los Angeles 

County. Z-NET provides basic zoning and land use information 

about properties in incorporate areas of Los Angeles County 

[LACOUNTY 2011]. 

Data Source: GIS-NET; SUB-NET; OVOV-NET; Z-NET 

Organization: Los Angeles County Department of Regional 

Planning 

Format Used: GIF; PDF 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 

LandScan Dataset Description: The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) 

LandScan datasets contain global population distribution data. 

LandScan represents an ambient population (average over 24 

hours) with approximately 1 km resolution (30" X 30"). The 

LandScan algorithm uses spatial data and imagery analysis 

technologies and a multi-variable dasymetric modeling 

approach to disaggregate census counts within an 

administrative boundary. Since no single population

distribution model can account for the differences in spatial 

data availability, quality, scale, and accuracy as well as the 

differences in cultural settlement practices, LandScan 

population distribution models are tailored to match the data 

conditions and geographical nature of each individual country 

and region. [ORNL 2011]. 

Data Source: ACS FTP Site 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau (USCS) 

Format Used: ESRI Grid 

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral; Spatial 

Montgomery County Government 

Map Viewer 

Description: Montgomery County Government Map Viewer 

contains over 17 thematic areas of data. It includes aerial 

photos, boundaries, census, economic development, education, 

environmental protection, grids, health and human services, 

housing, place of interest, public safety, public works and 

transportation, recreation, regional services centers, streets and 

zip codes, and other high accuracy base map data sets [MCMD 

2011]. 

Data Source: Montgomery County Government Map Viewer 

Organization: Montgomery County, Maryland Government 
217

Format Used: GIF 

Classification: Environment; Resources; Demographic and 

Behavioral; Spatial 

National Climatic Data Center 

(NCDC) Geodata 

Description: NCDC, the world’s largest active archive of 

weather data, produces numerous climate publications and 

responses to data requests from all over the world. NCDC 

supports a three tier national climate services support program 

– the partners include: NCDC, Regional Climate Centers, and 

State Climatologists. The online Climate data Directory 

includes Surface Data, Upper Air Data, Marine Data, Satellite 

Data, Important Notes, Climatology & Extremes, and Related 

Links. NCDC provides data access tools to retrieve climate and

weather, satellite, and radar data [NCDC 2011]. NCDC’s GIS 

Portal allows users to view, access, and utilize in situ station 

data through NCDC’s Geographic Information System (GIS) 

portal. Interactive maps, associated metadata, and advanced 

Open Geo-spatial Consortium (OGC) services, such as Web 

Map Services (WMS) and Web Feature Services (WFS) are 

available. 

Data Source: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) Geodata 

Portal 

Organization: NOAA 

Format Used: WMS; WFS;KML;KMZ 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 

National Digital Forecast Database 

(NDFD) 

Description: As the foundation of the NWS Digital Services 

Program, the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) 

consists of gridded forecasts of sensible weather elements (e.g., 

cloud cover, maximum temperature). NDFD contains a 

seamless mosaic of digital forecasts from NWS field offices 

working in collaboration with the National Centers for 

Environmental Prediction (NCEP) [NWS 2011a]. 

Data Source: NDFD Access Data (via File Transfer Protocol 

(FTP); HTTP; XML Web Service; Web Feature Service; Web 

Browser) 

Organization: National Weather Service (NWS) 

Format Used: Grids in Gridded Binary (GRIB2); XML; 

Shapefile 

Classification: Environment 

National Emergency Medical Services 

(EMS) Information System (NEMSIS) 

Description: The National Emergency Medical Services 

(EMS) Information System (NEMSIS) is the national 

repository that will be used to potentially store EMS data from 

every state in the Nation. The NEMSIS project was developed 

to help states collect more standardized elements and 

eventually submit the data to a national EMS database. The 

NEMSIS Technical Assistance Center (TAC) is the resource 

center for the NEMSIS project. The 2009 NEMSIS PublicRelease Research Dataset is now available. This dataset 

includes 6,216,520 EMS events submitted by 26 states during 
218

the 2009 calendar year. The 2008 NEMSIS Public-Release 

Research Dataset will continue to be available through the 

NEMSIS TAC [NEMSIS 2010]. 

Data Source: NEMSIS Technical Assistance Center 

Organization: National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA); Health Resources and Services 

Administration (HRSA); CDC 

Format Used: XML

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral 

National Fire Department Census 

Database 

Description: The National Fire Department Census Database 

provides an online address listing of U.S. fire departments 

registered with U. S. Fire Administration (USFA) as well as 

some basic information about each fire department. The 

purpose of the census, which is ongoing, is to create a national 

database for use by USFA to conduct special studies that will 

guide program decision-making and to improve direct

communication with individual fire departments. These files 

contain the following information: department name,

headquarters address, department mailing address, headquarters 

telephone number, headquarters fax number, county, 

department type, organization type, Web site address, number 

of stations, number of active firefighters, the number of nonfirefighting personnel, and a flag indicating the department’s 

status as primary emergency management department [USFA 

2011]. 

Data Source: National Fire Department Census Database

Organization: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) 

Format Used: CSV 

Classification: Incidents, Controlling Documents 

National Geochemical Survey 

Database 

Description: The online spatial data is provided by the 

National Geochemical Survey Database. The database contains 

information from the National-scale geochemical analysis of 

stream sediments and soils in the U.S., from existing data, 

reanalysis of existing samples, and new sampling. Goal for 

sample density is one per 289 square km. There are 3 ways to 

get information: 1) View: show in a web browser window, 

show in Google Earth or down load KML, and show in GIS 

using OGC WMS; 2) Download: download data for selected 

geographic areas; 3) Documentation: complete National 

Geochemical Survey report available on the web [USGS 

2011b]. 

Data Source: National Geochemical Survey Database 

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

Format Used: Shapefile; dBase; HTML; TXT; CSV; KML; 

KMZ 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 

National Geophysical Data Center 

(NGDC) 

Description: The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) 

Online Access Systems include Interactive Map Services, 
219

Space Physics Interactive Data Resources (SPIDR), 

Geophysical Data System (GEODAS), Seafloor Composition, 

and FTP Area. Interactive Maps provides visually display for 

many NGDC data layers. SPIDR is designed to allow a solar 

terrestrial physics customer to intelligently access and manage 

historical space and physics data for integration with 

environment models and space weather forecasts. SPIDR is a 

distributed network of synchronous databases. GEODAS is an 

interactive database management system for used in the 

assimilation, storage, and retrieval geophysical data. The data 

included in the GEODAS are trackline marine geophysics, 

hydrographic surveys, coastal relief, multi-beam bathymetry, 

and aeromagnetic surveys. Download data directly, create 

custom CDs. Seafloor Composition is used to search for and 

download selected descriptions and analyses of marine 

sediment and rock samples. FTP Area is for browse data types 

available from NGDC [NGDC 2011]. 

Data Source: NGDC Online Access Systems 

Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA)/National Geophysical Data Center 

(NGDC) 

Format Used: GIF; PNG; XML 

Classification: Environment; Spatial 

National Integrated Land System 

(NILS) 

Description: GeoCommunicator is the publication site for the 

Bureau of Land management’s (BLM’s) National Integrated 

Land System (NILS). NILS’ Land Survey Information System 

is the official Federal Government website for the distribution 

of the Public Land Survey System – PLSS of the United States 

and other survey-based data for the Federal Government. 

GeoCommunicator provides searching, processing, and

dynamic mapping of many BLM activities, such as land use 

permits; Mineral materials, community pits; oil, gas, and 

geothermal leasing; mining claims; etc. It provides a 

centralized site for downloading NILS data and exporting 

survey points/lines and control points [BLM 2011]. 

Data Source: GeoCommunicator 

Organization: Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

Format Used: Shapefile 

Classification: Environment; Resources 

National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL) Geographic 

Information System (GIS) Data 

Description: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

(NREL) Dynamic Maps, GIS Data and Analysis Tools Web 

Site provides dynamically generated maps of renewable energy 

resources that determine which energy technologies are viable 

solutions in national and international regions. Click on the 

download data link in the page to activate the File Archive 

Download Utility. Data are available for the U.S. and 

internationally, and for energy resources including biomass, 

hydrogen, solar, and wind. The NREL’s Geographic 

Information System (GIS) team analyzes wind, solar, biomass, 
220

geothermal, and other energy resources and inputs the data into 

the GIS. NRFL has made some of their biomass, solar and wind 

datasets — in either high resolution or low resolution — 

available for download through this Web site. High-resolution 

datasets are available for specific states. Low-resolution 

datasets are available for Alaska, Hawaii, and the lower 48 

states [NREL 2011]. 

Data Source: NREL’s Geographic Information System Data 

Organization: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory 

(NREL) 

Format Used: SHP 

Classification: Resources; Spatial 

National Weather Service File/Web 

Services 

Description: The National Weather Service 

Telecommunication Gateway web site contains information on 

meteorological data exchange, communication standards, 

switching practices, and meteorological data codes. The 

File/Web Services allows user to access data and products filed 

on the Gateway central server resources using FTP and HTTP 

applications. The File/Web Services provide current data and 

product files of computer models, text products, text parsed 

data, observed data, radar products, and satellite products 

[NWS 2011b]. 

Data Source: File/Web Services 

Organization: National Weather Service 

Format Used: GRIB; FTP; HTTP; RPG/SPG; NESDIS; TXT 

Classification: Incidents; Environment 

Public Utilities Commission 

Interactive Maps 

Description: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s 

Interactive Maps Page was created to provide on-line access to 

the PUCO’s Geographic Information System (GIS) maps and 

database. The various maps enable the user to search, identify, 

and print information on data layers including service area 

boundaries, exchanges, roads, school districts, county 

boundaries, cities, political districts, railroad crossings, etc. 

The maps types include telephone/electric/rail map; telephone 

service map, electric map, railroad cross accident maps, 

railroad map, water and waste water utilities map, telephone 

extended area service map, census boundary and zip code map, 

etc. [PUCO 2011]. 

Data Source: PUCO Interactive Maps 

Organization: The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio 

(PUCO) 

Format Used: PDF; Google Map 

Classification: Spatial; Environment; Incidents; Resources 

QuickFacts Description: QuickFacts is an easy access to facts about 

people, business, and geography. It includes data for all states 

and counties, and for cities and towns with more than 25,000 

people. QuickFacts tables are summary profiles showing 

frequently requested data items from various Census Bureau 
221

programs. Profiles are available for the Nation, states, counties, 

and large cities [CENSUS 2011e]. 

Data Source: QuickFacts 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau 

Format Used: ASCII 

Classification: Spatial; Resources; Demographic and 

Behavior; Environment 

San Francisco Enterprise Geographic 

Information Systems (GIS) Program 

Description: The San Francisco Enterprise GIS Program 

provides mapping expertise, data, and applications for the City 

and County of San Francisco. The Program provides four 

mapping services: SFViewer, SFParcel, SFProspector, and 

CrimeMaps. With SFViewer and SFParcel, users can find a 

location or an assessor parcel, view parcel information, view 

aerial photos, and print maps. SFProspector allows searching 

for properties and creating demographic or business report for 

an area of San Francisco. CrimeMaps provides the public with 

information about recent crime activity in their neighborhood 

[SFGOV 2011]. 

Data Source: SFViewer; SFParcel; SFProspector; CrimeMaps 

Organization: City & County of San Francisco 

Format Used: GIF; TXT; ASCII 

Classification: Resources; Spatial; Environment; Demographic 

and Behavioral 

SEDRIS Environmental Data Sets Description: SEDRIS includes the representation of 

environmental data and the interchange of environmental data 

sets. The SEDRIS environmental data sets are available free of 

charge from SEDRIS. The types of SEDRIS data sets include 

models (e.g., chair, communication console, space station 

gamma, and test), Terrain (e.g., Atlantis, Auto-generated 

Terrain, Bellevue Washington, and Lake Tahoe), and other 

domains (e.g., atmosphere, Master Environmental Library), and 

data achieves (e.g., 4.0-compliant SEDRIS Transmittal 

Formats) [SEDRIS 2011b]. 

Data Source: SEDRIS Environmental Databases 

Organization: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 

(DARPA) 

Format Used: SEDRIS Transmittal Format (SFT) 

Classification: Environment 

The Federated Data System 

(DataFed) 

Description: DataFed is web services-based software that nonintrusively mediates between autonomous, distributed data 

providers and users. The main goals of DataFed include to aid 

air quality management and science by effective use of relevant 

data, to facilitate the access and flow of atmospheric data from 

provider to users, and to support the development of userdriven data processing value chains. The main web application 

of DataFed is the generic Viewer of spatio-temporal datasets. 

The Viewer can be used for all the federated datasets in 

DataFed [DATAFED 2011]. 
222

Data Source: DataFed Viewer 

Organization: National Science Foundation (NSF); National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 

Format Used: CSV; KML 

Classification: Environment 

The National Map Description: The National Map is a collaborative effort among 

the USGS and other Federal, State, and local partners to 

improve and deliver topographic information for the Nation. It 

has many uses ranging from recreation to scientific analysis to 

emergency response. The National Map includes several 

primary data viewers: the first viewer, The National Map 

Viewer, has the primary role of viewing distributed data sets 

from many contributing Federal State and Local Partners 

through dynamic web map services. The second viewer, The 

National Map Seamless Server, is the primary site for 

downloading USGS imagery, elevation and land cover data. 

Use the 'Best Practices' viewer to download the most up-to-date 

National Map road, boundaries, structures and other 'vector' 

data. Use the National Hydrography Data (NHD) viewer to 

download our full-featured National Hydrography data [NMAP 

2011]. 

Data Source: The National Map 

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey 

Format Used: PDF; GeoPDF; GeoTIFF; SHP; JPEG 

Classification: Spatial 

The North American Environmental 

Atlas 

Description: The North American Environmental Atlas is a 

digital repository of maps and information that are available as 

downloadable map and data files without cost. It is an 

interactive mapping tool to research, analyze and manage 

environmental issues in Canada, United States and Mexico. It is 

designed to help understand continental-scale environmental 

issues. The Atlas offers basic cartographic and environmental 

data for the continent. It is intended for use by both 

environmental scientists and the citizens of the United States, 

Canada, and Mexico. Its maps and services are designed to 

help the public visualize environmental topics at a continental 

scale [CEC 2011]. 

Data Source: North American Environmental Atlas 

Organization: Commission for Environmental Cooperation 

(CEC) 

Format Used: Shapefile; PDF; ZIP 

Classification: Environment 

Topologically Integrated Geographic 

Encoding and Referencing (TIGER) 

Database 

Description: The Web browser is used to view and download 

Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and 

Referencing (TIGER) data. The design of the TIGER database 

adapts the theories of topology, graph theory, and associated 

fields of mathematics to provide a disciplined, mathematical 

description for the geographic structure of the United States 
223

and its territories [CENSUS 2011f]. 

Data Source: Tiger Map Server Browser 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau 

Format Used: SHP; Tiger/Line; ASCII; XML 

Classification: Spatial 

U.S. Board on Geographic Names 

Database 

Description: The U.S. Board on Geographic Names serves the 

Federal Government and the public as a central authority to 

which name problems, name inquiries, name changes, and new 

name proposals can be directed. The U.S. Board on Geographic 

Names Database holds the Federally recognized name of each 

feature and defines the feature location by state, county, USGS 

topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other attributes 

include names or spellings other than the official name, feature 

designations, feature classification, historical and descriptive 

information, and for some categories the geometric boundaries. 

Use “Search Domestic Names”, “Download Domestic Names”, 

“Search Foreign Names”, and “Search Antarctic Names” to 

query or download information [USGS 2011c]. 

Data Source: Online Systems: Search Domestic Names, 

Download Domestic Names 

Organization: U.S. Geological Survey 

Format Used: XML; HTML; ASCII 

Classification: Controlling Document 

United States-Mexico Demographic 

Data 

Description: United States-Mexico Demographic Data Viewer 

is an interactive application that provides rapid, interactive data 

mapping, viewing, and analysis of more than 200 

socioeconomic variables that are congruent between the United 

States and Mexico. It is a useful tool for browsing and 

visualizing patterns at geographic levels ranging from regions 

to counties/ municipalities, the U.S.-Mexico DDViewer may be 

used to map population, vital statistic, land area, and household 

data [CU 2011]. 

Data Source: DDViewer 3.1 

Organization: Columbia University, International Earth 

Science Information Network (CIESIN) 

Format Used: 

Classification: Spatial; Demographic and Behavioral; 

Resources 

Westchester County Geographic 

Information Systems 

Description: The Mapping Westchester County of New York 

map service provides access to a large amount of facility, 

environmental, demographic, transportation, and large scale 

planimetric datasets. Links to other areas of the county’s GIS 

website also enables users to download coverage and metadata 

[WCNY 2011]. 

Data Source: Westchester County Geographic Information 

Systems 

Organization: Westchester County, New York Government 

Format Used: GIF 
224

Classification: Incidents; Environment; Resources; 

Demographic and Behavioral; Spatial 

E.3 – Incident Management Data Sources 

This section identifies databases and other sources of data that may be used to develop or run incident 

management models, simulations, and training applications. The name of data source, a brief description of 

its contents, its access location, responsible organization, data formats used, as well a classification of the 

type of data is given below. 

Data Source Title Overview 

Active Fire Mapping Program Description: The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging 

Spectroradiometer) Active Fire Mapping Program provides a near 

real-time geo-spatial overview of the current wildland fire 

situation at regional and national scales. Locations of current fires 

and the extent of previous fire activity are ascertained using 

satellite imagery acquired by the MODIS sensor. These fire data 

are integrated with various sources of contextual spatial data and 

information in a suite of geo-spatial data and mapping products. 

This information is utilized by fire managers to assess the current 

fire situation and serves as a decision support tool in strategic 

decisions regarding fire suppression resource allocation. The data 

and products provided by the program are also valuable for 

numerous other fire-related applications. MODIS fire detection 

data and products are continuously updated and published year 

round to provide temporal and spatial coverage for the variable 

fire conditions that occur year round on the North American 

continent. The MODIS Active Fire Mapping Program provides 

active fire detection and monitoring for the continental United 

States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada [USDA 2010].

Data Source: NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Data 

Gateway (EDG) 

Organization: USDA Forest Service (USFS) Remote Sensing 

Applications Center, NASA, the University of Maryland, the 

National Interagency Fire Center 

Format: KML/KMZ 

Classification: Incidents, Environment 

California Integrated Seismic 

Network (CISN) Display 

Description: The California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN) 

is a partnership among federal, state, and university agencies 

involved in California earthquake monitoring. CISN Display is 

part of a Web-enabled earthquake notification system alerting 

users in near real-time of seismicity, and also valuable 

geophysical information following a large earthquake. CISN 

Display is a software package that rapidly receives earthquake 

information via the Internet distributed by seismic networks 

operating in the United States. It is a means of delivering 

graphical earthquake information to users at emergency 

operations centers, and other organizations. The CISN Display is 
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the front-end of a client/server architecture known as the 

QuakeWatch system. It is comprised of the CISN Display (and 

other potential clients), message queues, server, server "feeder" 

modules, and messaging middleware, schema, and generators. 

Central to the CISN Display's role as a gateway to other 

earthquake products is its comprehensive XML-schema. 

Earthquake products deliverable to the CISN Display are 

ShakeMap, Ground Displacement, Focal Mechanisms, Rapid 

Notifications, OES Reports, and Earthquake Commentaries 

[CISN 2010]. 

Data Source: CISN Display Version 1.31 

Organization: California Integrated Seismic Network 

Format: ShakeMap, CISN Display map 

Classification: Domain-specific Integration Interface 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) Widgets 

Description: CDC.gov provides content in several useful ways, 

via CDC e-mail updates, podcasts and RSS feeds. CDC widgets 

are online CDC.gov applications, built by one Web site that can 

be displayed onto another Web site. Available widgets include 

Adult BMI Calculator, H1N1 (Swine Flu), Fraudulent H1N1 

Products, H1N1 School Guidance, Pet Health and Safety, Public 

Health Image Library Image of the Day, Five Minutes or Less for 

Health, Smoking and Tobacco Use, Flu IQ, Seasonal Flu 

Updates, National Environmental Public Health Tracking 

Program, and CDC Text Messages. [CDC 2010mm]. 

Data Source: CDC.gov 

Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

Format: html, RSS 

Classification: Incidents, Demographic and Behavior, 

Environment, Controlling Document 

Data Sets Available in the 

DataFerrett System 

Description: DataFerrett is a unique data analysis and extraction 

tool—with recoding capabilities—to customize federal, state, and 

local data to suit the user’s requirements. TheDataWeb is the 

infrastructure for intelligent browsing and accessing data across 

the Internet. TheDataWeb provides access across the Internet 

using the DataFerrett interface to use demographic, economic, 

environmental, health, and other databases housed in different 

systems in different agencies and organizations (Ferrett stands for 

Federated Electronic Research, Review, Extraction, and 

Tabulation Tool.) Some of the searchable data sets topics in the 

DataFerrett application are American Community Survey (ACS), 

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), National 

Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), and Census 2000 

[CENSUS 2010g]. 

Data Source: DataFerrett system 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau 

Format: XML/CAP 1.1, ATOM, RSS 

Classification: Controlling Documents, Demographic and 

Behavior, Resources 
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Disaster Management – Open 

Platform for Emergency Networks 

(DM-OPEN) 

Description: Disaster Management – Open Platform for 

Emergency Networks (DM-OPEN) was created to establish 

information exchange and collaboration between existing 

emergency preparedness information systems. DM-OPEN is a 

non-proprietary operational interoperability backbone that 

provides a set of non-proprietary "level playing field" web 

services designed to enable disparate third-party applications, 

systems, networks and devices to share information using open 

interoperability standards. As a Federal infrastructure, DMOPEN is designed to support the delivery of real-time data and 

situational awareness to public emergency responders in the field, 

at operation centers and across all levels of response 

management. The DM-OPEN mission is to enable a national 

network of systems that facilitates data sharing between software 

products serving the responder community. DM-OPEN also 

serves as a test bed to facilitate the development of open, nonproprietary consensus standards that support interoperable 

information sharing for the emergency responder community 

[FEMA 2010e].

Data Source: DM-OPEN 2.0 

Organization: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Federal 

Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 

Format: WSDL, Map, CAP, EDXL-DE, HTTPS Servlet, SOAP 

Classification: Incidents, Simulation Support, Controlling 

Documents, Resources, Demographic and Behavioral 

FedStats Description: FedStats provides access to the full range of official 

statistical information produced by the Federal Government 

without having to know in advance which Federal agency 

produces which particular statistic. With convenient searching 

and linking capabilities to more than 100 agencies that provide 

data and trend information on such topics as economic and 

population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, 

energy use, and farm production [FEDSTATS 2010]. 

Data Source: www.fedstats.gov 

Organization: The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical 

Policy 

Format: HTML, spreadsheets 

Classification: Resources, Demographic and Behavioral, 

Environment, Controlling Documents 

Geo-spatial Multi-Agency 

Coordination Group (GeoMAC) 

Description: The Geo-spatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group 

(GeoMAC) is an internet-based mapping application originally 

designed for fire managers to access online maps of current fire 

locations and perimeters in the conterminous 48 States and 

Alaska. Using a standard web browser, fire personnel can view 

this information to pinpoint the affected areas. With the growing 

concern of western wildland fires in the summer of 2000, this 

application has also become available to the public. In order to 

give fire managers near real-time information, fire perimeter data 
227

is updated daily based upon input from incident intelligence 

sources, GPS data, infrared (IR) imagery from fixed wing and 

satellite platforms. The GeoMAC web site allows users in remote 

locations to manipulate map information displays, zoom in and 

out to display fire information at various scales and detail, and 

print hard copy maps for use in fire information and media 

briefings, dispatch offices and coordination centers. The fire 

maps also have relational databases in which the user can display 

information on individual fires such as name of the fire, current 

acreage and other fire status information [GEOMAC 2010]. 

Data Source: The GeoMAC web site 

Organization: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture, National Interagency Fire Center, U.S. Geological 

Survey 

Format: Map, Data 

Classification: Incident, Spatial, Environment 

GIS Data Depot Description: The GeoCommunity GISDataDepot is an online 

resource for GIS and Deospatial data. It provides GIS data from 

multiple sources. Data provided by the GISDataDepot include 

standard U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital raster graphic 

(DRG) data, USGS Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data, USGA 

orthoimagery data, and FEMA Flood Data. A DRG is a scanned 

image of a USGS standard series topographic map, including all 

map collar information. The USGS DEM data files are digital 

representations of cartographic information in a raster form. 

DEMs consist of a sampled array of elevations for a number of 

ground positions at regularly spaced intervals. The

GeoCommunity has one of the largest online collections of 

orthoimagery available in the world [GEOCOMM 2010].

Data Source: GIS Data Depot 

Organization: MindSites Group, Niceville, FL 

Format: DEM, NWI, DLG, LU/LC, TIGER, E00, MIF 

Classification: Environment 

Global Terrorism Database (GTD) Description: The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an opensource database including information on terrorist events around 

the world from 1970 through 2008 (with additional annual 

updates planned for the future). Unlike many other event 

databases, the GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well 

as transnational and international terrorist incidents that have 

occurred during this time period and now includes more than 

87,000 cases. For each GTD incident, information is available on 

the date and location of the incident, the weapons used and nature 

of the target, the number of casualties, and--when identifiable--

the group or individual responsible. The National Consortium for 

the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) 

makes the GTD available via this online interface in an effort to 

increase understanding of terrorist violence so that it can be more 
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readily studied and defeated [START 2010]. 

Data Source: GTD 

Organization: U.S. Department of Homeland Security/National 

Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to 

Terrorism (START) 

Format: Chart, Table, CSV 

Classification: Incidents, Controlling Documents 

Incident Information System Description: The Incident Information System, InciWeb, is an 

interagency all-risk incident information management system. 

The system was developed with two primary missions: provide 

the public a single source of incident related information, and 

provide a standardized reporting tool for the Public Affairs 

community. A number of supporting systems automate the 

delivery of incident information to remote sources. This ensures 

that the information regarding active incidents is consistent, and 

the delivery is timely. Information posted on the website is for 

information purposes only [INCIWEB 2010]. 

Data Source: InciWeb 

Organization: Inciweb.org 

Format: Table, JPG 

Classification: Incidents 

National Fire Department Census 

Database 

Description: The National Fire Department Census Database 

provides an online address listing of U.S. fire departments 

registered with U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) as well as some 

basic information about each fire department. The purpose of the 

census, which is ongoing, is to create a national database for use 

by USFA to conduct special studies that will guide program 

decision-making and to improve direct communication with 

individual fire departments [USFA 2010a]. 

Data Source: USFA’s National Fire Department Census 

Database 

Organization: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) 

Format: Report/Online Table 

Classification: Resources 

National Fire Incident Reporting 

System (NFIRS) 

Description: The National Fire Incident Reporting System 

(NFIRS) has two objectives: to help State and local governments 

develop fire reporting and analysis capability for their own use, 

and to obtain data that can be used to more accurately assess and 

subsequently combat the fire problem at a national level. To meet 

these objectives, the USFA has developed a standard NFIRS 

package that includes incident and casualty forms, a coding 

structure for data processing purposes, manuals, computer 

software and procedures, documentation and a National Fire 

Academy training course for utilizing the system [USFA 2010b]. 

Data Source: USFA NFIRS 5.0 Client Software Version 5.7.0 

Organization: U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) 
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Format: NFPA 901 

Classification: Incidents, Controlling Documents 

National Incident Management 

System - Incident Resource 

Inventory System (NIMS-IRIS) 

Description: National Incident Management System - Incident 

Resource Inventory System (NIMS-IRIS) is a database

management tool that allows emergency responders to enter 

typed resources and select specific resources for mutual aid 

purposes based upon mission requirements, capability of 

resources, and response time. NIMS-IRIS tracks equipment, 

communications, contracts, facilities, responders, services, 

supplies, and teams [FEMA 2010f]. 

Data Source: NIMS-IRIS Version 2.2 

Organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) 

 Format: EDXL 

Classification: Resources 

National Response Center (NRC) 

Data Query Page 

Description: The National Response Center (NRC), the Federal 

Government's national communications center, is staffed 24 

hours a day by U.S. Coast Guard officers and marine science 

technicians and serves as the sole federal point of contact for 

reporting all hazardous substances and oil spills. The NRC 

maintains reports of all releases and spills in a national database. 

The NRC has made available yearly data files for download and 

offline management. Each file represents a particular calendar 

year and contains data related to incidents, which occurred during 

that year. NRC report categories include aircraft report, 

continuous release report, fixed report, mobile report, pipeline 

report, platform report, railroad report, sheen report, storage tank 

report, and vessel report [NRC 2010]. 

Data Source: NRC DOWNLOAD DATA 

Organization: National Response Center 

Format: XLS, HTML 

Classification: Incidents, Environment, Controlling Documents 

National Situation Updates Description: National Situation Updates are compiled for use in 

emergency management planning and operational activities. 

Updates include information and graphics gathered from a variety 

of sources including other federal agencies and departments, state 

and local government, and the news media. Updates are 

published daily, Monday through Friday, by the Information 

Coordination Unit, Response and Recovery Directorate at FEMA 

Headquarters [FEMA 2010g]. 

Data Source: FEMA Emergency Managers 

Organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Incidents, Controlling Documents 
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RAND Database of Worldwide 

Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI) 

Description: The RAND Corporation has developed and 

maintained a database of terrorism incidents stretching back to 

1972, which contains comprehensive information on international 

and domestic terrorism. Over the years, many public and private 

sponsors have contributed to the maintenance of the RAND 

Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI). The new 

subscription-based RDWTI, launched in January 2009, is a fully 

searchable and interactive database [RAND 2010a]. 

Data Source: RDWTI 

Organization: RAND Corporation, Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) 

Format: txt, pie charts, and chronological graphs 

Classification: Incidents 

Rand Public Health Preparedness 

Exercise Database 

Description: The Rand Corporation RAND assessed existing 

public health preparedness exercises and developed a database of 

those exercises that met the quality criteria for use by state and 

local public health departments. It is primarily intended for state 

and local public health officials. The database provides a list of 

possible exercises performed along with criteria rating the 

success of each exercise. There are fourteen design criteria used 

to rate each exercise. These criteria are: 1) clearly stated goals; 

2) clearly stated objectives; 3) the objectives are appropriate 

given the goals; 4) each objective is addressed during the 

exercise; 5) objectives are measurable; 6) the scenario is 

appropriate given the goals and objectives; 7) the scenario is 

internally consistent; 8) scenario is “a realistic depiction of the 

capabilities and resources likely to be available to a participating 

health jurisdiction;” 9) clear guidance about participants; 10) all 

participants are engaged; 11) exercise can be replicated; 12) 

results in action items; 13) feedback is solicited from participants; 

14) can be completed within the given timeframe. The goal of 

this database is “to identify the best exercises to help local and 

state public health departments prepare for public health 

emergencies” [RAND 2010b]. 

Data Source: Rand Public Health Preparedness Exercise 

Database 

Organization: RAND Corporation, Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) 

Format: XLS, Pie charts, Chronological graphs 

Classification: Training, Resources 

Responder Knowledge Base (RKB) Description: The Responder Knowledge Base (RKB) is a 

decision support infrastructure for the responder community that 

provides information on commercial equipment and technology 

to the state, local, and tribal homeland security community to 

assist them with their purchasing and operational equipment 

decisions. RKB provides emergency responders, purchasers, and 

planners with a trusted, integrated, online source of information 

on products, standards, certifications, grants, and other 

equipment-related information. The RKB hosts the online 
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interactive version of the FEMA Authorized Equipment List 

(AEL), which is provided in an interactive format and linked to 

relevant information such as applicable standards. The RKB also 

provides the official online version of the InterAgency Board’s 

Standardized Equipment List (SEL). The RKB is the only site in 

existence that provides an integrated display of the AEL and 

SEL. The AEL is the generic list of equipment items allowable 

under several Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant 

programs, including the Homeland Security Grant Program. This 

choice displays only the official AEL items. The SEL includes 

recommended features and operating considerations. This choice 

displays only the SEL. The RKB site has added special features 

such as Mission Critical Hints, the ability to display side by side 

comparisons of products, and an Ask an Expert feature [RKB 

2010]. 

Data Source: RKB Version 3.9 

Organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency 

Format: Report/Online table 

Classification: Incidents, Resources, Controlling Documents, 

Investigative Intelligence, Demographic and Behavioral, 

Environment, Training 

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) 

Forecast Products 

Description: The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) of the National 

Weather Service (NWS) is providing tornado/severe 

thunderstorm watches, mesoscale discussions, convective day 1-3 

outlooks, fire weather outlooks, and watch, warning and advisory 

display through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) [NOAA 

2010f]. 

Data Source: SPC Products RSS Feeds 

Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) 

Format: RSS, XML 

Classification: Incidents, Demographic and Behavior, 

Environment 

Texas Natural Resources 

Information System (TNRIS) 

Description: TNRIS was established by the Legislature in 1968 

as the Texas Water-Oriented Data Bank. In 1972, after four years 

of growth and diversification, it was renamed the Texas Natural 

Resources Information System. The mission of TNRIS is to 

provide a "centralized information system incorporating all Texas 

natural resource data, socioeconomic data related to natural 

resources, and indexes related to that data that are collected by 

state agencies or other entities." TNRIS’s data storehouse 

comprises the most comprehensive set of geographic data for the 

State of Texas. It contains over 1,000,000 frames of Aerial 

Photography and over 50 unique datasets that add up to over 500 

gigabytes of data. Access digital datasets directly through the 

online Data Search & Download, or go to Ordering Services to 

work with TNRIS staff on a custom order [TNRIS 2010]. 

Data Source: TNRIS Data Catalog 
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Organization: Texas Water Development Board 

Format: USGS DEM, Mr SID 

Classification: Resources

Unified Incident Command and 

Decision Support (UICDS) 

Description: UICDS is the "middleware foundation" that enables 

information sharing and decision support among commercial, 

government, and academic incident management technologies 

used to support the National Response Framework (NRF) and the 

National Incident Management System (NIMS), including the 

Incident Command System (ICS), in order to prevent, protect, 

respond, and recover from natural, technological, and terrorist 

events. UICDS links homeland security and emergency

management organizations, from incident command at the scene 

of an emergency to local and state operations centers to federal 

departments and agencies, from intelligence fusion centers to 

transportation management centers to health service

organizations, and many other groups [UICDS 2010]. 

Data Source: UICDS Technology Provider 

Organization: Science Applications International Corporation 

(SAIC) 

Format: NIEM-based data exchange, Multiple data 

communication standards

Classification: Incidents 

Wireless Information System for 

Emergency Responders (WISER) Description: WISER is a system designed to assist first 

responders in hazardous material incidents. WISER provides a 

wide range of information on hazardous substances, including 

substance identification support, physical characteristics, human 

health information, and containment and suppression advice. 

WISER is available for download as a standalone application on 

Windows Mobile devices, Palm OS PDAs, Apple iPhone and 

iPod Touch, BlackBerry devices, Microsoft Windows PCs, and 

via WebWISER [WISER 2010]. 

Data Source: WISER Version 4.3, WebWISER, WISER for 

BlackBerry Version 1.0, WISER for iPhone/iPOD Touch Version 

1.0 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Incidents, Controlling Documents, Demographic 

and Behavior, Environment 

E.4 – Healthcare Systems Data Sources 

This section identifies databases and other sources of data that may be used to develop or run healthcare 

models and simulations. The name of data source, a brief description of its contents, its access location, 

responsible organization, data formats used, as well as classification of the type of data is given below. 
233

Data Source Title Overview 

Ambulatory Health Care Data Description: The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 

(NAMCS) is a national survey designed to meet the need for 

objective, reliable information about the provision and use of 

ambulatory medical care services in the United States. Findings 

are based on a sample of visits to non-federal employed officebased physicians who are primarily engaged in direct patient 

care. The National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey 

(NHAMCS) is designed to collect data on the utilization and 

provision of ambulatory care services in hospital emergency and 

outpatient departments. Findings are based on a national sample 

of visits to the emergency departments and outpatient 

departments of non-institutional general and short-stay hospitals 

[CDC 2010jj]. 

Data Source: NAMCS/NHAMCS 

Organization: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior, Resources 

American Hospital Association 

(AHA) Database 

Description: American Hospital Association (AHA) Database 

contains data for every hospital in the U.S. The data is collected 

from AHA annually survey. Non-responding hospital data are 

estimated using advanced methods to approximate specific data 

elements. Multiple data sets power this database, including the 

latest edition of the AHA Annual Survey of Hospitals, primary 

research into the organizational structures of Systems and 

Networks conducted by Health Forum, and information from 

Health Forum subscriber lists [AHADATA 2011]. 

Data Source: American Hospital Association (AHA) Database. 

Five tools are provided: Hospital Statistics Wizard; Hospital 

Market Analysis Wizard; Health Care Systems and Networks 

Wizard; Hospital Detail Report Wizard; Mailing List Wizard 

Organization: American Hospital Association (AHA) 

Format Used: PDF, Excel table, Chart 

Classification: Resources, Demographic and Behavior 

American Housing Survey (AHS) Description: The American Housing Survey (AHS) collects data 

on the Nation’s housing, including apartments, single-family 

homes, mobile homes, vacant housing units, household 

characteristics, income, housing and neighborhood quality, 

housing costs, equipment and fuels, size of housing unit, and 

recent movers. National data are collected in odd numbered 

years, and data for each of 47 selected Metropolitan Areas are 

collected currently about every six years. The national sample 

covers an average 55,000 housing units. Each metropolitan area 

sample covers 4,100 or more housing units. The Data Access 

includes three categories: National Data, Metropolitan Data, and 

Dates metropolitan Areas are Survey [CENSUS 2010d]. 

Data Source: AHS Data Access 
234

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau (USCS) 

Format Used: Excel; PDF 

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral 

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance 

System (BRFSS) 

Description: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 

(BRFSS) is a state-based system of health surveys that collects 

information on health risk behaviors, preventive health practices, 

and health care access primarily related to chronic disease and 

injury. For many states, the BRFSS is the only available source of 

timely, accurate data on health-related behaviors [CDC 2010kk]. 

Data Source: BRFSS Maps, BRFSS GIS Data, BRFSS Datasets 

Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health 

Promotion/Division of Adult and Community Health 

Format: SHP, RTF, SAS, XPT, PDF, TXT, CSV, SAS7BCAT, 

SAS7BDAT, ZIP 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior, Controlling 

Documents, Incidents 

CDC Wide-ranging Online Data for 

Epidemiologic Research 

(WONDER) 

Description: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) WONDER – Wide-ranging Online Data for 

Epidemiologic Research – is an integrated information and 

communication system for public health. It speeds and simplifies 

access to public health information for state and local health 

departments, the public health service, and the academic public 

health community. CDC WONDER allows accessing statistical 

research data and reports published by CDC and querying 

numeric data sets on CDC’s computers [CDC 2010ll]. 

Data Source: WONDER Online Databases 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Format: HTML, chart and map images (bitmaps), ASCII, 

spreadsheet 

Classification: Resources, Controlling Documents, Demographic 

and Behavioral 

CDC.gov Widgets and Gadgets Description: CDC.gov provides content in several useful ways, 

via our e-mail updates, podcasts and RSS feeds. Our newest 

features are the Flu Updates, Emergency Text Messages and the 

CDC Data and Statistics Widget. Widgets are online applications 

built by one Web site that can be displayed onto another Web 

site. A widget is a CDC.gov application that displays the featured 

content directly on your web page. You can embed content in 

personalized home pages, blogs, and other sites. Once you’ve 

added the widget, there’s no technical maintenance. CDC.gov 

will update the content automatically. Available widgets include 

Adult BMI Calculator, H1N1 (Swine Flu), Fraudulent H1N1 

Products, H1N1 School Guidance, Pet Health and Safety, Public 

Health Image Library Image of the Day, Five Minutes or Less for 

Health, Smoking and Tobacco Use, Flu IQ, Seasonal Flu 

Updates, National Environmental Public Health Tracking 
235

Program, CDC Text Messages, etc. [CDC 2010mm]. 

Data Source: CDC.gov 

Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

Format: TXT, RSS 

Classification: Incidents, Demographic and Behavior, 

Environment, Controlling Document 

Clinical Data Repository (CDR) Description: The Clinical Center installed a hospital-wide, realtime computerized medical information system (MIS) in 1976. 

This system supports the Clinical Center’s dual responsibilities of 

providing quality patient care and collecting research data. The 

Clinical Data Repository (CDR) is a new facility that will house 

all electronic data collected at the clinical center from the time 

MIS was installed (1975) until today. The CDR will be 

continually updated with current data and will be the single place 

to find information for clinical, research, and administrative use 

[NIH 2010d]. 

Data Source: CDR Version 1.4, CCMIS (Mac/MIS, Web/MIS 

3.0) 

Organization: National Institute of health (NIH) 

Format: Clinical Data Repository (CDR) 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior 

Directory of Information Resources 

Online (DIRLINE) 

Description: DIRLINE (Directory of Information Resources 

Online) is the National Library of Medicine’s online database 

containing location and descriptive information about a wide 

variety of information resources including organizations, research 

resources, projects, and databases concerned with health and 

biomedicine. DIRLINE contains over 8,500 records and focuses 

primarily on health and biomedicine, although it also provides 

limited coverage of some other special interests. These 

information resources fall into many categories including federal, 

state, and local government agencies; information and referral 

centers; professional societies; self-help groups and voluntary 

associations; academic and research institutions and their 

programs; information systems and research facilities. Topics 

include HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, most diseases and 

conditions including genetic and other rare diseases, health 

services research and technology assessment. Each record may 

contain information on the publications, holdings, and services 

provided [NIH 2010e]. 

Data Source: DIRLINE 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Resources, Controlling Documents 

Drug Information Portal Description: The Drug Information Portal, a free web resource, 

provides an informative, user–friendly portal to current drug 

information for over 15,000 drugs. Links to sources span the 

breadth of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National 

Institutes of Health (NIH) and other government agencies. 
236

Current information regarding consumer health, clinical trials, 

AIDS–related drug information, MeSH pharmacological actions, 

PubMed biomedical literature, and physical properties and 

structure can be retrieved by searching on a drug name. A varied 

selection of focused topics in medicine and drug–related 

information is also available from displayed subject headings 

[NIH 2010f]. 

Data Source: Drug Information Portal 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Resources, Controlling Document 

FedStats Description: FedStats provides access to the full range of official 

statistical information produced by the Federal Government 

without having to know in advance which federal agency 

produces which particular statistic. With convenient searching 

and linking capabilities to more than 100 agencies that provide 

data and trend information on such topics as economic and 

population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, 

energy use, and farm production [FEDSTATS 2010]. 

Data Source: www.fedstats.gov

Organization: The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical 

Policy 

Format: HTML, spreadsheets 

Classification: Resources, Demographic and Behavior, 

Environment, Controlling Documents 

Haz-Map Description: Haz-Map is an occupational health database 

designed for health and safety professionals and for consumers 

seeking information about the health effects of exposure to 

chemicals and biological agents at work. Haz-Map links jobs and 

hazardous tasks with occupational diseases and their symptoms. 

It is one of the products and services made available by the 

National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) Toxicology and

Environmental Health Information Program. Haz-Map includes 

three categories: hazardous agents, occupational diseases, and 

high risk jobs [NIH 2010g]. 

Data Source: Haz-Map 

Organization: The National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

Format: Report 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior, Environment, 

Controlling Documents 

Healthcare Cost and Utilization 

Project (HCUP) Databases 

Description: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) 

databases bring together the data collection efforts of State data 

organizations, hospital associations, private data organizations, 

and the Federal Government to create a national information 

resource of patient-level health care data (HCUP Partners). 

HCUP includes the largest collection of longitudinal hospital care 

data in the United States, with all-payer, encounter-level 

information beginning in 1988. These databases enable research 
237

on a broad range of health policy issues, including cost and 

quality of health services, medical practice patterns, access to 

health care programs, and outcomes of treatments at the national, 

State, and local market levels [AHRQ 2010]. 

Data Source: Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), Kids’ 

Inpatient Database (KID) , Nationwide Emergency Department 

Sample (NEDS), State Inpatient Databases (SID), State 

Ambulatory Surgery Databases (SASD), and State Emergency 

Department Databases (SEDD) 

Organization: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 

(AHRQ) 

Format: PDF, HTML 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior, Resources, 

Controlling Documents 

Healthy People 2010 Database Description: DATA2010 is an information system developed by 

staff of the division of Health Promotion Statistics of the National 

Center for Health Statistics, CDC, and contains the most recent 

monitoring data for tracking Healthy People 2010. With this 

system, world-wide users have the ability to view the data 

collected to track Healthy People 2010 objectives, with national 

baseline and monitoring data for each Healthy People 2010 

objective. Users can select data options to create and browse realtime tables and graphs of the baseline and tracking year data for 

all 28 health focus areas, as well as the leading health indicators. 

This interactive system allows users to query an updated database 

and construct tables. Tables can be constructed for specific 

objectives, or objectives identified by focus areas, data source, or 

by select population [CDC 2010nn]. 

Data Source: DATA2010 

Organization: National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of 

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

Format: Table and Graph 

Classification: Controlling Documents, Demographic and 

Behavior 

Hospital Compare Description: Hospital Compare is used to find information on 

how well hospitals care for patients with certain medical 

conditions or surgical procedures, and results from a survey of 

patients about the quality of care they receives during a recent 

hospital stay. The data provided includes process of care, 

mortality, and readmission quality measures. The collection 

period for the measures is generally 12 months. However, some 

measures may be based upon fewer than 12 months. Generally, 

the Hospital Compare quality measures are refreshed the third 

month of each quarter [CMS 2010]. 

Data Source: Medicare Hospital Compare 

Organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 

(CMS) of Department of Health and Human Services, Hospital 

Quality Alliance 

Format: CSV, dbf 
238

Classification: Resources, Controlling Documents 

Hospital Electronic Health Records 

(HER) Adoption Database 

Description: The Hospital HER Adoption Database 2010 is 

based on a survey of U.S. hospitals tracking the adoption of 

electronic health records (HER), also known as electronic 

medical records (EMR). The data included are hospital specific. 

The database is used to determine where hospitals are along the 

technology adoption curve regarding electronic clinical 

documentation, results viewing, computerized provider order 

entry, decision support, and bar coding; find out where these 

functions are implemented in the hospital: emergency 

department, ICU, general medical/surgical, specialty, onsite 

ambulatory practices, and offsite ambulatory practices; and 

understand the capabilities of hospital’s electronic systems 

[AHADATA 2011]. 

Data Source: Database 

Organization: American Hospital Association (AHA) 

Format: PDF, Microsoft Excel file 

Classification: Demographic and Behavior, Resources, 

Controlling Documents 

National Emergency Medical 

Services (EMS) Information System 

(NEMSIS) 

Description: The Hazardous Substances Emergency Events 

Surveillance (HSEES) system was established to collect and 

analyze information about acute releases of hazardous substances 

and threatened releases that result in a public health action such 

as an evacuation. The goal of HSEES is to reduce the morbidity 

(injury) and mortality (death) that result from hazardous 

substances events, which are experienced by first responders, 

employees, and the general public. The HSEES system data and 

prevention outreach are critical for identifying, preventing, and 

mitigating the consequences of terrorist threats against our 

chemical infrastructure. Fourteen state health departments 

currently have cooperative agreements with ATSDR to

participate in HSEES: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, 

Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, 

Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin [NEMSIS 

2010]. 

Data Source: NEMSIS NHTSA Dataset Version 3 

Organization: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

(NHTSA); Health Resources and Services Administration 

(HRSA); CDC; University of Utah; University of North Carolina 

Format Used: XSD

Classification: Demographic and Behavioral 

National Incident Management 

System – Incident Resource 

Inventory System (NIMS-IRIS) 

Description: National Incident Management System – Incident 

Resource Inventory System (NIMS-IRIS) is a database

management tool that allows emergency responders to enter 

typed resources and select specific resources for mutual aid 

purposes based upon mission requirements, capability of 

resources, and response time. NIMS-IRIS tracks equipment, 

communications, contracts, facilities, responders, services, 
239

supplies, and teams [FEMA 2010f]. 

Data Source: NIMS-IRIS Version 2.2 

Organization: Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) 

 Format: EDXL 

Classification: Resources 

Rand Public Health Preparedness 

Database 

Description: The Rand Corporation database, funded by the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services, provides access to 

numerous public health preparedness exercises. It is primarily 

intended for state and local public health officials. The database 

provides a list of possible exercises performed along with criteria 

rating the success of each exercise. There are fourteen design 

criteria used to rate each exercise. These criteria are: 1) clearly 

stated goals; 2) clearly stated objectives; 3) the objectives are 

appropriate given the goals; 4) each objective is addressed during 

the exercise; 5) objectives are measurable; 6) the scenario is 

appropriate given the goals and objectives; 7) the scenario is 

internally consistent; 8) scenario is “a realistic depiction of the 

capabilities and resources likely to be available to a participating 

health jurisdiction;” 9) clear guidance about participants; 10) all 

participants are engaged; 11) exercise can be replicated; 12) 

results in action items; 13) feedback is solicited from participants; 

14) can be completed within the given timeframe. The goal of 

this database is “to identify the best exercises to help local and 

state public health departments prepare for public health 

emergencies.” [RAND 2010c] 

Data Source: Rand Public Health Preparedness Exercise 

Database 

Organization: RAND Corporation, Department of Health and 

Human Services (HHS) 

Format: 

Classification: Training, Resources 

Risk Group Database for Risk 

Group Classification for Infectious 

Agents 

Description: In many countries, including the United States, 

infectious agents are categorized in risk groups based on their 

relative risk. Depending on the country and/or organization, this 

classification system might take the following factors into 

consideration: pathogenicity of the organism, mode of 

transmission and host range, availability of effective preventive 

measures (e.g., vaccines), availability of effective treatment (e.g., 

antibiotics), and other factors. The Risk group classifications 

used in the Risk Group Database are primarily used in the 

research environment as part of a comprehensive bio-safety risk 

assessment. The Risk Group database provides four search 

engines: search bacteria, search virus, search fungi, and search 

parasites [ABSA 2010]. 

Data Source: ABSA Risk Group Database 

Organization: American Biological Safety Association (ABSA) 

Format: 

Classification: Controlling Documents, Demographic and 
240

Behavior 

The Emergency Response Safety 

and Health Database 

Description: The Emergency Response Safety and Health 

Database is a rapidly accessible occupational safety and health 

database developed by NIOSH for the emergency response 

community. The ERSH-DB contains accurate and concise 

information on high-priority chemical, biological and radiological 

agents that could be encountered by personnel responding to a 

terrorist event. The information contained in the ERSH-DB 

represents a compilation of material from a diverse array of 

sources, and is intended to address the safety and health 

information needs of a wide range of emergency response 

personnel, including, but not limited to, the fields of fire and 

rescue, emergency medicine, law enforcement, emergency 

management, public health, safety and health, and mortuary and 

funeral. As a central source of information, the ERSH-DB allows 

diverse segments of the emergency response community to share 

a wealth of information that is not readily accessible and to avoid 

duplication of effort [CDC 2010oo].

Data Source: ERSH-DB 

Organization: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC); The National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health 

(NIOSH) 

Format Used: text, table 

Classification: Controlling Documents 

TheDataWeb Browser Description: TheDataWeb is a network of online data libraries 

that the DataFerrett accesses the data through. DataFerrett is a 

unique data analysis and extraction tool—with recoding 

capabilities—to customize federal, state, and local data to suit the 

user’s requirements. (FERRETT stands for Federated Electronic 

Research, Review, Extraction, and Tabulation Tool.) Data topics 

of TheDataWeb include census data, economic data, health data, 

income and unemployment data, population data, labor data, 

cancer data, crime and transportation data, family dynamics, vital 

statistics data, etc. [CENSUS 2010g] 

Data Source: BetaDataFerrett 

Organization: U.S. Census Bureau 

Format: XML/CAP 1.1, ATOM, RSS 

Classification: Controlling Documents, Demographic and 

Behavior, Resources 

Weapons of Mass Destruction 

(WMD), Emergency Management 

and Medical Websites 

Description: A comprehensive list of internet sites of use for 

emergency planning and in particular Weapons of Mass 

Destruction (WMD) and medical emergency planning [YNHHS 

2010]. 

Data Source: Yale New Haven Center for Emergency 

Preparedness and Disaster Response Yale New Haven Health 

System 

Organization: Yale New Haven Health System 

Format Used: N/A 
241

Classification: Controlling Documents 

Web-based Injury Statistics Query 

and Reporting System (WISQARS) 

Description: The Web-based Injury Statistics Query and 

Reporting System (WISQARS) is an interactive database system 

that provides customized reports of injury-related data. The 

database includes fatal injury data (from the National Vital 

Statistics System), nonfatal injury data (from the National 

Electronic Injury Surveillance System), and violent deaths (from 

the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) [CDC 

2010pp]. 

Data Source: WISQARS 

Organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) 

Format: CSV 

Classification: Incidents 
242

Appendix F – Breakout Group Notes 

This appendix contains notes from each of the four parallel breakout groups. The information is generally 

presented in bullet form and for the most part is self-explanatory. The presentation summaries for the

different technical groups have had minor editing for the purpose of achieving improved consistency and 

clarification. The appendices are organized as follows: 

• F.1 – Hazardous Material Release Breakout Group Notes 

• F.2 – Critical Infrastructure Breakout Group Notes 

• F.3 – Incident Management Breakout Group Notes 

• F.4 – Healthcare Systems Breakout Group Notes 

F.1 – Hazardous Material Release Breakout Group Notes 

The discussions in HMR breakout group had good involvement from the participants reflecting their past

interactions on the topics. Many in the group appeared to have been involved in various forums over the 

years that include discussions related to the topics covered in the pre-workshop reading materials. The 

notes included below are based on the summary presentation provided at the end of the workshop by the 

HMR breakout group chair and co-chair, Drs. Sugiyama and Miller respectively. Please also note that the 

content included in this section was primarily provided by the attendees of the breakout session and may 

not reflect the opinions of the editors. The editors did consider all the input carefully to identify the 

content to be included in appropriate parts of the report and modified the report accordingly. 

Summary of Key Points from Debrief Presentation 

• Different models are needed/used to: 

− Answer different questions 

− Address different space and temporal resolutions 

− Provide results on different response time scales 

• Appropriate M&S tools depends on 

− User (technical expertise, SME support, etc.) 

− Level of detail needed varies with the application 

− Key caveat: M&S providers have no control over the user base 

• Most of the HMR focus is on airborne releases 

− Focus on preparedness and response phases 

− Separate water modeling discussion

HMR Breakout Group Approach 

• Workshop discussion based on recognition: 

− Broad spectrum of M&S users 

− Range of releases to be considered: airborne, waterborne, food/water distribution systems 

− Full range of hazmat sources (e.g., CBRNE, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and toxic 

industrial material (TIMs), some natural hazards – volcanic ash or emissions, wildfire) 

− Differences between models for preparedness, response, and longer-term recovery / forensics 

− Large number of available models that cover different parts of scenario space 

• Simplified the range of topics that we would consider w/primary focus on federal level M&S

Users of Hazmat M&S 

• Decision makers (tactical and strategic) 
243

− Non-technical emergency responders 

− Emergency operations centers 

− State and local agencies 

− Federal agencies 

• Commercial/private sector 

• Trained users (minimal, expert) 

• Subject matter reach-back staff (provide services and M&S products to users) 

• Public / media

Range Of User Products

• Key impacts of interest 

− Population health effects to inform shelter/evacuation, relocation decisions 

− Worker protection 

− Contaminated areas 

− Economic and environmental 

− Affected infrastructure 

• Graphical products 

− Geographical referencing 

− Animations to communicate time-evolution 

• Interagency briefing products to communicate Hazmat M&S results to non-technical decision 

makers (Homeland/National Security Council tasking): 

− Interagency development, review, and approval 

− Radiological Dispersion Devices (RDD), Improvised Nuclear Devices (IND) initial versions 

(DOE-led) 

− Underway: Nuclear Power Plant - DOE/DHS, chemical/biological (CB) - DHS-led

Preparedness Applications 

• Hazard assessments 

− Large number of simulations typically required to capture range of possible scenarios 

− Probabilistic methods often used to sample source / meteorological variability 

− Regulatory modeling (e.g., EPA, NRC) 

• Training / exercise support to provide realistic-enough scenarios for players 

− After-action reviews and reports; implementing fixes 

− Need to train on same tool you’ll use in real life situations 

• Sensor placement 

− Need to carefully design criteria for optimization 

− Different (spatial/temporal) data resolution needed for detection vs. characterization of 

impacts 

Response Applications 

• Consequence management 

− Near real-time provision of actionable information 

− Initial fast estimation for immediate response (e.g., rules of thumb developed from M&S, 

simple Gaussian models) 

− M&S scoping of potential range of impacts (e.g., release characteristics are typically least 

known in the early stages of a response) 

− Detailed complex analyses via subject matter experts (e.g., reach-back support to federal 

resources) 
244

• Situational awareness 

• Guidance for monitoring and sampling planning 

Use (and Misuse) of Hazmat M&S Tools 

• Use the right model(s) for the application 

− Users and developers need to understand the applications for which the M&S tool should be 

used 

− Based on fidelity, resolution, and performance requirements 

• Best practices 

− Design M&S tools to meet usability requirements and to minimize user errors 

− Provide an appropriate level of VV&A needed for all M&S tools (currently no practical way 

forward to develop common guidance and standards for all applications) 

− Provide appropriate training and documentation 

− Span the appropriate scenario space for the question of interest 

− Convey uncertainty of the product (how to do this is a key gap!) 

− Sustain appropriate maintenance of M&S tool and process for user feedback 

− Promote data exchange formats to facilitate data sharing 

• Proper interpretation of M&S critical in communicating results to users 

− Interpretational information (Hazmat M&S results are highly technical and prone to misinterpretation) 

− Documentation of assumptions 

• Decisions should not be based solely on M&S results

− M&S results need to be confirmed by data 

− Reduction in uncertainty as data is incorporated needs to be communicated 

− Examples of Key Scientific Needs 

• Urban modeling (urban parameterizations, empirical urban, CFD) 

• Complex flow conditions (e.g., land-sea breeze, complex topography) 

• Complex physics process (e.g., wet and dry deposition on different surfaces, weathering, resuspension) 

• Improved source term / release mechanism models 

• Methods for source term estimation and reconstruction 

• Data at the appropriate spatial and temporal resolutions required for M&S tool(s) 

• Integration and coupling of M&S calculation for multiple impacts (e.g., different media, scales / 

regimes of applicability, resolution temporal/spatial mismatches)

Water Modeling Considerations 

• Range of models 

− River / watershed 

− Coastal 

− Long-range ocean transport 

− Man-made systems (e.g., pipeline system) 

• Differences from airborne modeling 

− Data density much lower than in atmosphere 

− Longer time-scales

− Actionable levels of concern are limited 

• Key needs 

− Improved water M&S tools 

− Development of re-locatable M&S tools
245

Key Need: Coupling of M&S and Decision Support Tools

• Coupling of Hazmat models 

− Indoor-outdoor, including sheltering/shielding corrections 

− Subway-outdoor 

− Airborne-water 

• Agreed-upon data exchange to enable connectivity to other decision support tools, for example: 

− GIS systems used by local, state, federal agencies 

− Critical infrastructure impacts 

− Response asset planning models

Key Need: Product and VV&A Standards

• Standard presentation of customer products would be beneficial 

− Use of same contour levels and colors for chemical effects 

− Use of federal protective action guideline levels for radiological impacts 

− Common interpretative information 

• VV&A approaches are not standardized across community 

− Difficult to define given the range of agency needs, applications, users 

− Difficult to enforce due to the wide range of multiple model providers (government and 

commercial) 

− Cost for formal implementation across the community

− Limited interagency standards for chemical and biological releases

Key Issue: Interpretation of M&S Products is Critical in Communicating Results 

• M&S output provided to users should provide 

− Interpretational information (Hazmat M&S results are highly technical and prone to 

misinterpretation) 

− Documentation of inputs for the particular product 

− Document assumptions and limitations of the chosen M&S tool 

• Use of M&S products for informing the public / media is controversial but critical 

− M&S products should be used to inform and help decision makers and Public Affairs Officers 

(PAOs) craft public action messages 

− Many agencies’ policy is that raw M&S products should not be directly released to the public 

due to the risk of misunderstanding 

− Briefing Products are a step forward but are not really stand-alone

Key Issue: Understanding and Communicating Uncertainty 

• No standard approach for incorporating all types of uncertainty in Hazmat M&S 

− Traditional subject matter expert-based worst case and most likely case analyses 

− Multiple simulations to determine M&S sensitivity / range 

− Ensembles (weather) 

• Rigorous statistical methods needed to incorporate all sources of uncertainty (e.g., source, 

meteorological, and physical processes) 

• Communicating uncertainty to the user is a major (unsolved) challenge 

Final Perspective 

• General guidance to developer and user community on M&S tools is needed (to which the 

workshop will contribute) 

• Addressing this part of an-ongoing long-term discussion in the community 
246

• Communicating the complex information provided by and the limitations of M&S tools to the 

complete range of users is a developing new challenge

Additional Reports of Interest that were Identified by Participants 

• DOT, 2008: Emergency Response Guidebook (Orange Book) – updated ~3 years, next version 

2012 

• NAS/NRC, 2003: Tracking and Predicting the Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous Material 

Releases 

• NRC, 2006: Successful Response Starts with a Map: Improving Geo-spatial Support for Disaster 

Management 

• OFCM, 2004: Federal R&D Needs and Priorities for Atmospheric Transport & Diffusion 

Modeling + semi-regular updates 

• OFCM 2007(?): Report of Joint Action Group for Joint Urban Test Beds (JAG/JUTB) 

• OFCM JAG/ATD(R&DP), 200?: National Research and Development (R&D) Plan for 

Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion (ATD) modeling systems 

• Federal Research and Development Needs and Priorities for Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion 

Modeling (FCM-R23-2004). September 2004 

• Other: 

− DoD Technical Panel 9 of the Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) Chemical, Biological, 

and Radiological Defense (CBD) Group, annual reports: information exchanges between US, 

Canada, UK, Australia 

− DHS, 2007: Aquatic Fate and Effects Workshop 

− IMAAC Interagency VV&A Workshop, 2009: OUO draft only (POC: Joe Chang) 

− EU COST reports: EU approach to standardize M&S

Recommended Changes to Pre-Read Materials by Section 

• Introduction and guidance 

− Incorporate corrected language on IMAAC 

− Include discussion of National Contingency Plan (oil and hazardous substances) 

− International agreements (e.g., IAEA / Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) monitoring, 

NOAA volcanic aviation hazards) 

− Focus on Federal Level aspects 

• Perspectives on Methodologies, M&S 

− Simplify the detailed discussion on M&S process 

• Capabilities and requirements specification 

− Details of revised bullets provided in notes below 

• Review of tools and standards 

− Refer to existing compendiums of M&S tools (e.g., OFCM, NAS/NRC report) 

• Issues and recommendations section

− Replace sections on Best Practices and Limitations with material discussed at workshop 

− R&D and Science Gaps are based on high-level needs and limitations identified by 

participants 

Data Output Requirements 

• Change “User Interface Requirements” to “Data output requirements” 

• Dependent on the user – ALOHA vs. NARAC 

• Need to drive by user domain analysis 

• A/B: move to performance requirements (input); usability section. Add “on the fly” to B 

• C: add appropriate legends, documentation, standardized action levels of color. 
247

− C1 – legends (2D) 

− C2 – 3D, depending on your user; caveat: if 3D required. 

• D: change to animations 

• E: standardization. Change to different products for different types of releases & different users; 

graphical and data files 

• F: being able to generate different output files, KMLs, shape files to input GIS systems 

• MISSING: uncertainty communication 

• Disclaimer, legal coverage, indemnification 

• Associated metadata; standardized data format 

• Interpretation of the output products and what it means; also input assumptions used in model run 

Data Input Requirements 

• A: add: anthropogenic heating 

• B & C: morph into source description data to define the scenario in the source model (where, 

when, what, how much) 

• D: chemical and physical properties; material properties 

• E: geo-spatial data 

− Add/include critical infrastructure data 

• F: demographic data very important; population is separate enough to call out; attributes by time 

of day critical data 

• G: separate bullet on “health action level” 

Recommendations for Future Work 

• Needs analysis 

− Reorganize by phase (Preparedness, Response, Recovery) 

− Subset by type of release and scale of response 

• Review of tools and standards 

− Develop criteria for inclusion of M&S tools to provide a consistent level of detail 

− Group by application (vs. current alphabetical listing) 

− Identify tools with unlimited and/or free availability 

F.2 – Critical Infrastructure Breakout Group Notes 

The discussions in critical infrastructure (CI) systems breakout group have been summarized using topic 

areas roughly aligned with sections of the draft report on critical infrastructure that was shared with the 

workshop participants. The bullets under each topic area generally identify suggested additions and 

occasionally questions raised by the participants in the CI breakout. An additional topic area of document 

organization has been included at the end to capture such comments such as those suggesting additional

sections. Discussions relevant to one topic have been collected in one place even when some of it may

have happened at different times during the two days. Please also note that the content included in this 

section was primarily provided by the attendees of the breakout session and may not reflect the opinions of 

the editors. In fact, there are occasional contradictory comments but they are included in the interest of 

capturing all the contributions. The editors did consider all the input carefully to identify the content to be 

included in appropriate parts of the report. 

Needs Analysis 

M&S should meet the following additional needs of the decision makers: 

• Predict damage to infrastructure primarily affected by incident 
248

• Predict cascading damage to other infrastructure 

• Predict impact on human populace affected by the incident and damage to the infrastructure 

(including evacuation models) 

• Predict situation following the incident before information for situational awareness becomes 

available. 

• Analyze trade-offs between investments and risks to improve resiliency in disasters. 

• Provide predictions across the whole range from micro and macro scale, for example, models that 

predict cracks in individual building to models that address impact of a hurricane on all the 

infrastructure systems in a region. 

Requirements 

• Include cyber-security aspects 

• Include capability for geographic models to utilize raster and elevation data 

• Need to define prioritized list of questions relevant to each CI sector – the list can be improved 

through discussions with involved organizations including private sector 

• The scope of models should be driven by the intended use and that should be captured in the 

request for proposals 

M&S Resources: Simulation Models and Tools 

• Department of Transportation’s (DoT’s) subway environmental simulation that models smoke 

movement around tunnels during fires 

• Finite element analysis tools including ABAQUS, ANSYS, LS-DYNA,DYSMAS, and CTH 

• Isight process modeling tool 

• Emergency and Disaster Modeling simulation (EDMsim)

• Functional Dependency Network Analysis (FDNA) for interdependency analysis 

M&S Resources: Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities 

• CEMSA 

• High Performance Building project 

• Decision support system for risk assessment and managing floods (RAMFlood) 

• M&S for emergency planners: FEMA Project #7 M&S RCPGP (Regional Catastrophic 

Preparedness Grant Program) contracted with DMAPS, AHC, CSC (project planning) 

• HiTRAC for estimating national level risks for supply chains 

• MELCOR for nuclear reactor modeling 

• Wide Area Recovery & Resiliency Program (WARRP) program 

M&S Resources: Relevant Standards and Guidelines 

• Add Open Geo-spatial Consortium’s (OGC’s) OpenGIS City Geography Markup Language 

(CityGML) 

M&S Resources: Data Sources 

• DoT/Bureau of Transportation Statistics – TranStats online data base 

• Data from DHS Office of Infrastructure Protection’s (OIP’s) Infrastructure Information 

Coordination Division (IICD) such as Homeland Security Infrastructure Program (HSIP) Gold 

• Energy Information Administration that includes lot of data on energy infrastructure 

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for aggregate data on banking sector 

• Population Dynamics – LandScan datasets 

• Data from National Geo-spatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) available on a need to know basis 

- Geo-spatial Intelligence (GEOINT) data 
249

- Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) 

• Aggregate economic data from diverse sources: 

- Publications such as the International Air Travel Association (IATA) quarterly newsletter 

- Commercial services such as IHS Global Insights for industry and country forecasts, SRI 

Consulting’s Chemical Economics Handbook for chemical production, supply, demand, 

etc. 

Best Practices 

• Results dissemination 

- Pre-hurricane damage assessment to coastal infrastructure from NISAC available on DHS 

internal network on official use only (OUO) basis 

• Implementation 

- Update predictions based on real data from field 

• Development process 

- Involve user as early as possible in development, starting from requirements development 

- Avoid requirement creep by having a formal change request process 

- Clearly defined data dictionary and taxonomy 

- Document the model follow standard practices in user’s manual and technical manuals 

- Share accreditation guidelines with developers 

- Configuration management and tracing to results 

- Leverage best practices from systems engineering and software engineering 

• Data inputs 

- Best practices for building data to collect for building automation systems (similar to John 

Deere collecting data through smart tractors?) 

• Verification, Validation, and Accreditation (VV&A) practices 

- Validation based on real data that becomes available post incident 

- Test cases for validating model 

- A very well defined integrated model development process overlaid with VV&A such as 

that used in High Level Architecture (HLA) Federation Development and Execution 

Process (FEDEP) 

- Mandatory process should be implemented as such for validation. Do not follow the 

practice in case of HLA where too many waivers were allowed. 

- VV&A approaches used by U.S. Navy 

 Demonstrations and/or live event 

 Data collection and experimentation at multi-scales running in parallel with code 

development and benchmarking of models against data early in development cycle 

used in Dynamic System Mechanics Advanced Simulation (DYSMAS) project 

 Scenario driven development process used in Navy’s Combat weapon system 

(AEGIS) 

- Focus on “Big V” versus “little v,” i.e., focus on validation throughout the development 

process starting from requirements validation up front 

- DoD’s M&S Use Risk Methodology (MURM) 

- Round Robins (akin to the ensemble approach) – prediction from a number of models 

compared to experimental results 

- “Hindcasting” – comparing against historical data 

- Data validation by user experts through comparison with field experience 

- Build parallel model for validating another model- especially for scalability 

Limitations, Cautions, and Warnings 

• Communication to decision makers: 
250

- In M&S literature, highlight information on limitations so that they are actually read. 

- Highlight: “all models are wrong, some are useful.”

- Highlight: focus on understanding not on numbers. 

- Need better ways to communicate critical information on limitations to decision makers to 

avoid erroneous extrapolations since tools don’t have automated means to stop application 

in inappropriate situations. 

- All decision makers should clearly understand the intended use of subject model and 

simulation. 

- Need to provide objective ways to go beyond biased views. 

- Input and assumptions should be made clear to decision makers. Model designed for one 

situation applied to another can impact the outputs to affect credibility. 

- Simulation will not make the decision, decision-maker needs to include other knowledge 

particularly for real-time decisions; use only after sufficient experience with the tool. 

- Avoid overselling a capability. 

- Proceed with caution in case of one shot scenarios where all the information is from a 

model with no benefit of comparison with real or experimental data. 

• Communication to developers: 

- For CI models, clearly define the system boundaries during development and use and 

identify critical factors, such as interdependencies, that may impact the results. 

• Model use: 

- Appropriate “simple” models may be used for understanding, generalizing, and capturing 

system complexity but may not be suitable for predicting specifics. 

- Warnings to users on range of applicability of models 

- Make clear what model is not intended for. 

- Don’t apply models beyond their intended domains of use, e.g., improper attributes. 

- If applicable, specify that models must be used with analysis support and not in standalone 

mode by decision makers. 

- Differentiate between predictive, exercise and real-time models. Exercise support 

requirement less stringent than real-time models, hence, models meant for exercise support 

may generally not be usable for incident management. 

- Need to develop experience with simulation tools to avoid using them as black box 

- Simulation development and use process, objectives, and models should be aligned else 

the results may not be credible. 

- Need model documentation, reference data sets, and access to experts (or knowledge), 

otherwise there may be significant risk in the use of the model. 

• Data availability and collection methods 

- Data limitation should be described since data is not available generally, costs a lot to get, 

not at the desired level of detail, and the validity of data at times is questionable. 

- Counterpoint: Models can be useful for general understanding even with inaccurate data. 

Example provided of use of earthquake models without knowing the exact location of the 

undersea cables 

- Model parameter measured with different methods can lead to different input data and 

hence different results. 

• Sources of variation 

- Add warnings if applicable related to hardware platforms, software language (e.g., for 

single versus double precision problems), code not optimized. 

- When integrating models make sure that models are compatible. 

• VV&A 

- Validation of multiple integrated models will require multiple experts. 

• Model outputs 
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- Not including estimates of uncertainty or quality of data and/or models is risky when 

applying results. 

- When assumptions significantly affect model output, perform sensitivity analysis. 

• CI sector specific input: 

- Health care/fire facilities models are generally outdated soon after construction since 

modifications are not captured in the model. Ensure updates are communicated to first 

responders in case of an incident. 

- There are known differences between model design/building code information and reality. 

- Limitations on the quantity or existence of data to address problems, e.g., food security 

models limited by lack of data. 

- Chemical and other KR suppliers moving off shore and that is limiting knowledge of 

supply chain to inform model development. That is particularly a concern for critical 

manufacturing sector. 

- There is unbounded complexity in (computer) networks. 

- Telecom technology is dynamically changing and hence need to ensure that current 

technology in use is captured in the simulation models being used. 

- Lack of access to commercial data for understanding and model development since there 

is no CVI type process for strategic materials such as metals. 

- For dams, there is uncertainty in materials data related to modeling characteristics and 

survivability to threats. 

- Lack of understanding of interdependencies in transportation systems and of the shift 

among modes due to economic factors. 

Issues: Research & Development 

• Conceptual understanding 

- Develop theory and algorithms for complex systems in CI and understanding of involved 

phenomenology and people aspects, e.g., people afraid to come to work for pandemic flu 

- Develop understanding of interaction of decision makers with simulation tools 

- Recognizing common threads across sectors that can be leveraged 

- Suite of persistent authoritative consistent conceptual models associated with each sector 

to facilitate collaboration between technical community and users 

- What threats to worry about specific to the sector 

- Different kind of uncertainties, epistemic versus aleatory, involved in modeling various 

infrastructure systems should be understood together with their impact on results. 

• Data input capabilities 

- Dealing with dynamic and streaming data 

- Capturing data for models based on reality such as 3D image capture for urban and terrain 

at the desired fidelity level 

• New modeling capabilities 

- Modeling of building collapses. A report from National Institute for Building Sciences 

has concluded that it is too difficult to predict building collapses due to lack of data on 

properties of particular infrastructure. A need was identified for the models to identify 

places where people may be trapped in collapsed buildings and to understand the toxic or 

other hazardous risks within the collapsed structure. The attendees from Singapore 

shared that they are able to collect data for buildings from existing systems. However, the 

U.S. attendees felt that it will be a challenge to do something similar in the U.S.A. due to 

much larger scale and variety of ways of capturing building data. 

- Pedestrian evacuation dynamics 

- Commercial facilities including modeling of crowds and individuals psychology, variation 

in occupancy, and use of real-time information 
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- Response of structures to explosives 

- Model, analyze, and manage risks and uncertainties 

- Modeling of damaged infrastructure and the following evacuation and shoring up 

- Cross sector interdependency modeling and analysis and cascading effects 

- Vulnerability and consequences 

- Real time tools to help decision making 

- Extend models to include Geo-spatial Concept of Operations (GeoCONOPS) capabilities 

- Models that adapt the behavior dynamically to match the configuration updates 

- Air support for emergency services including capture of required data, and guidance for 

selecting appropriate aircraft based on urban and natural terrain 

- Linkages within and outside the Energy sector 

- Simulation of all hazards, including individual and simultaneous multiple events, at 

nuclear plants such as, earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, aircraft impact, etc. 

- Granular data sets required to support nuclear plant location analysis 

- Upates to fire models due to changes to resilient and green buildings 

- Tie owner-operation to test analysis clinical data to locations and facilities in healthcare 

sector 

- Model healthcare as an enterprise rather than individual facilities; identify data needed for 

modeling as an enterprise 

- Cyber attacks at application level 

- Socio-economic impact of overlapping CI sectors (from systems to System of systems) 

- Individual firm behavior in banking and finance 

- International goods movement including implications for customs and security 

- Deterioration of water supply networks to predict maintenance and replacement needs; 

abstract to all infrastructure 

• VV&A 

- Develop benchmarking data sets for models for each CI sector. Navy tried something like 

this and that went a long way towards developing models and supporting tools. 

- Validate actual performance of buildings and large structures against expected 

performance based on the design codes, e.g., performance under scenarios of earthquake, 

floods, etc. There may be some related work in a new DHS or NIBS resiliency program. 

Similar work is happening for sustainability under the DHS High Performance building 

program. 

- Validation of models – methodology and results 

- Build experimental set-ups that can be shared and replicated to support validation of 

simulation models; provide ancillary and auxiliary tools 

- Need to understand the limitations of test set-up since some aspects may not be replicated 

in reality 

- Develop techniques to validate models of systems involving human behavior. At times, 

these models use agent-based paradigms. Also, need lot more data and statistics on such 

systems. 

- Flood plain data and model validation 

• Uncertainty quantification 

- Comparison of models looking at uncertainty and intended use to help selection of models 

- Enhanced capability to capture uncertainty in inputs and its impact on outputs 

- Develop scenario specific trustworthy measures and metrics on model outputs that take 

into account the uncertainties in data and model 

- Representation and visualization of uncertainty in large data sets 

• Analysis capabilities 
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- Guidance for drawing conclusions based on a combination of uncertain and accurate input 

data. 

- Determine impact on synthesis due to heterogeneity of component models 

- Develop metric to capture trustworthiness of the model outputs based on input data 

quality and fidelity of the model – link to VV&A 

- Define the procedures for different fidelity level models to determine the parameters in 

fire simulations 

- Develop mechanism that help increase understanding of key issues from simulation 

outputs 

- Best way to communicate model results/forecast to the public 

• M&S economics 

- Analyze trade-offs between risk and investment and identify point of diminishing return 

- Build vs. buy decisions before developing a new solution 

• Multi-resolution modeling 

- Link response models to systems to understand how would micro benefit macro 

• Development process 

- Enable collaborative model development, from data to execution (different from 

distributed execution) 

- Keep to defined requirements for R&D 

- Stick to agreed assumptions and constraints 

- Follow code development practices such as ISO9001 

- Elevate coding principles, styles, platforms, and tools to domain specific applications 

- Determining appropriate life cycle methodology for intended use – model-based (systems 

engineering) or simulation based (currently used) or component-based 

• Model execution performance 

- Exa-scale computing – parallel processing in simulation needs to be further developed 

Issues: Standards 

• Standardization for domain specific models 

• Standards for volunteered geo-spatial data (from sensors, tweets, utilities etc) and streaming data 

to populate databases and rapid injects into infrastructure interdependency models 

• Standard output formats for infrastructure models 

• Metadata standards for models and data for interoperability 

• Virtual representation of National Monuments and Icons 

• Code of ethics for M&S professionals 

Issues: Implementation 

• Data availability and sharing 

- Accurate, timely, and legitimate data will be critical for all types of models; however, such 

data is generally hard to find for all the parameters needed by the models. 

- In some cases, data collected decades ago is being used. Crowd models are based on data 

collected in 1970s even though the demographics have changed with population now 

having a higher percentage of overweight people who do not move as effectively. 

- Lack of data should not be a barrier to building good models. It was suggested that 

representative distributions might be used where accurate data is not available. 

- Need higher fidelity terrain data and 3D data 

- Catalog of relevant data sources including agencies of U.S. Department of Commerce 

- Identify responsible contacts for each infrastructure and places one can get help on a 

particular infrastructure 
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- Disseminate guidance on data identified under Protection of Critical Infrastructure 

Information (PCII), i.e., not classified but protected as critical; 

 How to get access to such data for M&S yet keep it secure; figure out the needs 

and ways to sanitize? 

 Mandatory training and protocol 

 Currently limited guidance available on use of data

 Recommend using the same model for PCII as is being used for Chemical 

Vulnerability Information (CVI) including the training requirement 

- Develop central directory of databases including private sector data. Need to address 

proprietary issues, perhaps by developing guidelines for sanitizing data for sharing similar 

to PCII and CVI. 

- Define the kind of data required for modeling for the 18 identified CI systems and the 

potential sources for such data. 

- Define data required for selected scenarios. As an example, the group captured the data 

requirements for a hurricane scenario in Louisiana as below: 

 Levee data: age, deterioration, etc. 

 Geo-spatial locations, getting the aspects of vulnerabilities of the different 

infrastructures, e.g., above ground transfer systems have a known level of wind 

tolerance. 

 What was damaged before, as they are most likely to be damaged again. 

 Evacuation data of who went where last time. Also population attributes 

(demographics- age, community). These will help define the evacuation areas. 

 Interactions among characteristics – wind, water, demographics 

 Understanding what’s happening during the event. To build real-time scenario, 

need to know what’s happening during the event, and releasing it to whom and at 

what time. 

- Procedures for acquiring information from private sector organizations. A specific case of 

difficulties in acquiring data from a phone company for some earthquake models was 

mentioned. It was also surmised that insurance companies would have lot of relevant data, 

but it is not sure if they’d be willing to share it. 

- Provide a matrix relating sectors with regards to data affecting model use including 

common data that can be reused, and other data that is specific to scenario 

- Reuse of the local knowledge and documentation (permits, fire codes, inspections) 

• Model availability and guidance 

- Central repository/ directory/ authoritative source of models and tools with related 

information such as guidance on use and quality. 

- Consumers report kind of guidance on tools with quantified confidence in analysis outputs 

- Identify the models that are available for use free of cost. 

- Identify organization(s) that will maintain benchmark problems and models for each of the 

sectors (e.g., computational analysis benchmarks) 

- Some users or support organizations may require access to code and model blueprint. 

Should open source software be used? How does one develop deep understanding of 

simulation engine without such access? Build access to simulation code in contract? 

- Establish model validation databases – include meta-analysis of validation that has been 

conducted 

- Infrastructure to manage families of models (PLM/SLM tools avail. in commercial world 

used for software) 

• Model outputs: 

- Develop a mechanism to relate results to models similar to the National Science 

Foundation funded scheme for Agent-based Models for keeping tools and results together 
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• M&S Economics 

- Develop M&S effort guidelines that provide realistic picture and set reasonable user 

expectations 

- Define economics of M&S, that is, cost benefit analysis guidelines that help bring rigor to 

M&S process 

• Partnerships for model development and use 

- Greater information sharing and interoperability 

- Partnerships between national labs 

- Academic partnerships, Centers of Excellence and private sector 

- Establish consortiums for sharing knowledge and development of common tools (similar 

to DoD and industry) 

- Collaborative enterprise environment establishment and cultivation 

Document Organization 

• Add a section on relevant organizations, such as those listed below, to the document with 

respective expertise areas: 

- National Labs 

- Academia 

- Virginia Modeling And Simulation Center (VMASC) 

- DoD labs 

- NIST Engineering Laboratory 

- U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports 

- International research centers – particularly in EU, Japan, Singapore 

- Johns Hopkins University/ Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) 

- Professional organizations in the area of simulation such as, Society for Computer 

Simulation, SimSummit, and Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization (SISO) 

- University Research Centers on M&S such as, ACIMS, MOVES, Alabama Center for 

M&S, Georgia Tech, and University of Central Florida 

- Universities offering M&S graduate programs – ASU, ODU, UCF, NPS, etc. 

- CIMNE (International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering), Spain 

Recommendations for Future Work 

• Orient the document towards DHS personnel and not include research and development 

community. 

• Present simulation in larger framework of analysis tools. 

• Define a structure of the document that allows frequent refreshing of contents to stay updated. 

• Add a section for web services for M&S, e.g., for distributed execution DEVS/SOA 

• Consider expanding the definition of CI sectors to include commerce supply chains to 

international customers, ports, shipping and national waterways and their socio-economic and 

ecological impact 

F.3 – Incident Management Breakout Group Notes 

The discussions in incident management (IM) breakout group sessions have been summarized using topic 

areas aligned with sections of the draft report on incident management that was shared with the workshop 

participants. The bullets under each topic area generally identify suggested additions and occasionally 

questions raised by the participants in the IM breakout. An additional topic area of document organization 

has been included at the end to capture such comments such as those suggesting additional sections. 

Discussions relevant to one topic have been collected in one place even when some of it may have 

happened at different times during the two days. Please also note that the content included in this section 
256

was primarily provided by the attendees of the breakout session and may not reflect the opinions of the 

editors. The editors did consider all the input carefully to identify the content to be included in appropriate 

parts of the report. 

Needs Analysis 

• Timely accurate information and better assessment on quality of the raw data that is available 

• Standard ways to define incident management problems 

• A searchable on-line index of models appropriate to given situation, like “experts book” used by 

journalists 

• Guidance for command & control 

• Provide best added value for on-the-spot responders first, and then for senior decision makers 

Requirements 

• Response plans need to comprehend the possibility that intended responders are among the victims 

• Agile and adaptable models that can be used for a wide variety of situations. Such models are 

preferred over perfectly designed ones that cater only to a specific scenario. 

• Integrated all-purpose models for training, analysis and real-time management 

• Documentation including intended use, known limitations, indicators and warnings of violation of 

assumptions 

• Ability to translate scale, scope, units of measurement 

• Geographic portability 

M&S Resources: Simulation Models and Tools 

• Degree of trust required depends on intended use (support for critical decisions requires much high 

standard than for “what-if”) 

• Include information on the following: 

- HSEE 

- MSEL Builder 

- Evacuation modeling tools developed by Redfish Group under Homeland Security 

Institute (HIS) sponsorship 

- Hazmat 

- DTRA CAT (consequence assessment tool set) 

Best Practices 

• Model inputs 

- Resolve conflicts that arise from different data sources yielding different results 

- Use of a common data translator in the absence of a data standard as practiced by the 

Department of Defense 

- Appropriate assumptions, appropriate scope, appropriate level of detail, and readily 

accessible 

• Results dissemination 

- Defined timelines for successive M&S results with increasing levels of accuracy similar to 

that done by National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (NARAC) 

- Provide quantified confidence levels with M&S results (such as satisfaction/regret curves 

provided by Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System – Decision Model 

(CIPDSS-DM)) 

• Implementation 

- Translational and searchable capability better than trying to drive everyone to one standard 

- Used in exercises, realistic tests before inclusion in crisis response 

- Use of reach-back centers to support use of M&S by incident managers and responders
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Limitations, Cautions, and Warnings 

• Should be included in any “catalog” of M&S tools 

• Policy makers and decision makers can’t assume away limitations 

Issues: Research & Development 

• Conceptual understanding 

- Study local incident managers - do they know what response times and approaches are? Is 

their knowledge all subjective judgment? 

- Organizational behavior research effort to determine how different levels use information 

and M&S, how to measure benefits 

- Dimensions of M&S applicability and use, may include such attributes as: 

 Level within organization 

 Stage of event -- time criticality 

 Component / environment of event 

 Type of event 

- Use of models when data is inaccurate/ has uncertainty 

• New modeling capabilities 

- Model interdependency issues (e.g. health effects, HAZMAT from building collapses, 

interacting crises) 

- Exploit information available from public sources such as CNN and other news channels 

• Analysis capabilities 

- Develop guidelines to determine how well a model will work in situation you never 

anticipated 

- Define guidelines to identify patterns in incidents

- Provide robust pre-positioning of resources versus highly detailed plans 

• VV&A

- Determine when we know enough, either in validation or in decision-making; Use the 

determination to optimize the validation effort 

- Processes to validate usability of M&S tools 

• M&S economics 

- Determine M&S efforts needed at various levels of response 

• Include R&D needs identified in 2004 workshop (LLNL Report UCRL-CONF-208718 “Computer 

Simulation for Emergency Incident Management): 

- Scalability of software solutions 

- Integration of multiple simulation paradigms 

- Software environment for federated computing 

- Visualization for insight 

- Modeling human behavior 

- Understanding complex adaptive systems 

- Resource constrained computing 

- Relevance of non-police/fire/EMS communities to the design of effective incident 

management simulation 

Issues: Standards 

• Data structures 

• Data interfaces 

• Geo-spatial / visualization 

• Standard nomenclature 

• Ways to assess and label the validity of models 
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Issues: Implementation 

• Data availability and sharing: 

- Address the major constraint of organizational resistance to sharing data -- biggest 

obstacle is policy and culture, not technology 

- In real-time, good data more critical than analytical modeling 

- Models should integrate the latest field data available and should not be seen as competing 

with data 

• Model availability and guidance: 

- Develop a well-grounded decision-making process and structure to provide basis for 

mission requirements that in turn drive assessments of models; DHS needs clearer mission 

/ problem definitions as prerequisite for model requirements and evaluation 

- On-line searchable information about approved models available for specified purposes, 

including assumptions, limitations, indicators and warnings of inappropriateness; S&T 

needs a “librarian” to keep track of what has already been done -- searchable 

- Better sharing of information on how models are chosen to integrate into SUMMIT 

framework at the National Exercise Simulation Center (NESC) 

• Model outputs: 

- Consider new information channels (e.g. social media) as part of the communications 

processes 

• Process recommendations: 

- Have dedicated staff associated with the most important models, checking them 

- Have frameworks to commission a run from a reach-back center 

- Can use analytical tools (simpler than simulation) to look at whether you have the needed 

people, training, resources 

- A clearer decision-making process and structure to support the kind of requirements 

development sought here; DHS needs to devote analytical effort to improving its own 

decision processes 

- M&S goals identified need to be continuously updated, not one-time efforts -- DHS needs 

a mechanism for continuously updating information like these documents 

- Lessons learned activity should include considering what did people fail to recognize and 

act on

Recommendations for Future Work 

• For the M&S tools listed include information on: 

- Evaluations and quality 

- Intended uses (training, decision support, level of organization) 

- Limitations of models 

- Availability 

- Currency 

- Validity 

- Complexity 

- Ease of use 

F.4 – Healthcare Systems Breakout Group Notes 

The Healthcare Systems breakout group had extended discussions. There was so much enthusiasm and 

interest in the topic that it was difficult to fit everything into the allotted time period. The discussions have 

been summarized using topic areas aligned with sections of the draft report on healthcare systems that was 

shared with the workshop participants. The bullets under each topic area generally identify suggested

additions and occasionally questions raised by the participants in the IM breakout. An number of 
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additional topic areas were discussed by the group and have been included after the sections corresponding 

to the pre-workshop reading document. In particular, the group found the idea of developing a healthcare 

model exemplar quite important and spent some time developing it further as captured near the end of this 

section. Please also note that the content included in this section was primarily provided by the attendees 

of the breakout session and may not reflect the opinions of the editors. The editors did consider all the 

input carefully to identify the content to be included in appropriate parts of the report. 

Needs Analysis

• Continuous automated knowledge capture 

• Infrastructure-less response 

• Data intensive cumulative continuous analysis 

• Preventative and predictive modeling 

• Best practices benchmarks 

• Situational awareness (county, regional, state, national) 

• Focused innovation environment 

• Dynamic data translation 

• Continuous and dynamic patient state vector 

• Data dictionary 

• Command, control, and communication (CCC) vs. outcomes 

• Business enterprise 

• Facility design 

• Capacity demand management 

• Conceptual modeling 

Intended Use 

• Consensus building and collaboration 

• More integration communication planning increase data and use 

• Focus innovation 

• Predictive element 

• Real time dynamic 

• Mission integration (reflect real message/issue) 

• Community live, thrive, survive 

• Mission support 

• Neutralize politics 

• Architects (AIA) 

• Audit traceability 

• Deploy gracefully 

• Learn subjective things 

• Process 

− Mission 

− Function 

− Conceptualization 

− Data 

− Performance credibility 

Functional Requirements 

• Identify and specify the system state for different health care domains across integrated health 

emergency Area of Operations (AOO) over time 
260

• Define functional requirements 

• Integration with law enforcement plans and authority 

• Health department oversight 

• Definition of steady state conditions 

• Scoping implications generic 

• Fully cross-barred model of relationships between population and individuals: an end to end 

approach. 

• Protect against cognitive bias 

• Theoretical model 

Data Requirements 

• Resources state: prevalence vs. incidence 

− Examples ancillary departments 

− Population profiles 

− Displaced (housing, residents) 

• HIPAA-compliant patient-specific data over consistent period of time (exclude rare and outliers) 

• Data types 

− Predefined data sets 

− Capture systems pre-incident protocols 

− Injury analysis 

− Trauma types 

− Treatment plans 

User Interface Requirements 

• Tools for integrating multiple models 

• Scenario generation tools 

Performance Requirements

• No ‘negative training’ 

• Implementations and applications should interoperable and distributed 

Credibility and Evaluation 

• Set the expectation early to have VVA for best practice guidance 

• Need VVA standards

Other Projects, Facilities, and Capabilities

• National Center for Collaboration in Medical Modeling and Simulation at Eastern Virginia 

Medical School 

• National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICOE) 

− Traumatic Brain Injury 

Simulation Models and Tools 

• Evaluations by user (disclaimer/instructions) 

− Availability 

− Hardware/software requirements 

− Support offered by distributor 

• Other simulation tools used for healthcare simulation (included but not limited to) 

− Flexsim HC – discrete event simulation for healthcare 

− ACSLX – biomedical modeling 
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Limitations, Cautions, and Warnings 

• Need VVA standards 

• User responsibilities 

• Certification of model champions 

• Political view 

• Database issue – multiple; no continuity 

• Decentralize model building and implementation with integrity 

General Research, Development, Standards, and Implementation Issues 

• Data translators are needed for healthcare data - More important than standards 

• Need VVA standards 

− Discussion 

 Totally lacking 

 Pitfall 

 Avoided 

− VVA cannot be treated as a separate deliverable. 

− Modelers need to tell what they did 

• Overall philosophies 

− Discovery 

− Imperfect science 

− Risk assessment 

− Must be contextualized – risk always there. Constantly overlaying and experimenting because 

they are discovery processes - not exact processes 

− Sliding scale of trustworthiness of model based on data 

 Human 

 Finite element models 

− Think about models multi-applicability 

− Include all domains (architecture, health care) 

− HIPAA disaster (identity lost, stolen, categorized missing) 

− Human behavior and communication patterns 

− Training requirements for public health officials 

− Community education 

• Simulation Documentation 

− Requirements 

− Does it meet specs – ‘of course’ (because there are no specs!) 

− Need a CMMI-type (Capability Maturity Model Integration) for M&S 

− Levels of documentation – the standard minimum 

− Ways of recognizing managing data integrity 

• VV&A an inherent part of contract with client 

− We need to provide appropriate VV&A techniques consistent with the needs for the project 

• Types, cost, time 

− Risk or confidence based 

• Did you do enough? Need to know baseline 

• Initiatives - we need to know what DHS is doing 

• Tools 

− Modeling 

− Support tools (statistical) 
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− Ad hoc health care support 

• Technical issues 

• Policies 

− Codification of legal responsibilities (modelers and analysts) 

− Error representation reporting 

 Define the meaning of error 

 Research issues on how to incorporate into sim mod 

 Healthcare response 

• Standards 

− representing the criticality of model 

 Is this just a game? 

 Or is it predicting deaths or collapse of buildings

• Information access – destruction, backup access 

• Vulnerable populations: aged; language and culture barriers; multiple-use facilities; 

Healthcare Specific Research, Development, Standards, and Implementation Issues

• Standard models pros and cons 

− Encourage widespread model development vs. single source development 

− Stimulate the market so that the community is not dependent upon a single or a few entities 

(not all eggs in one basket) 

− Need standards so that models don’t require system integrators 

− Development of portfolio of healthcare models 

− Market/technology is immature (lots of development will mature the market) 

− Find mechanisms for encouraging innovation 

 Contests 

 Competitions

• Research or further investigation to search for existing models 

− Need to be studies that characterize the uniqueness of the healthcare responses in disaster 

 Distributed highly sensitive, interdependent (some interdependencies not inherently 

known) 

− Fatalities: Which people die? 

 Population (civilians) 

 Families/communities profile /health status 

 Front line staff (first responders) 

Simulation Engineers/Analysts 

• Licensing/certification of simulation analysts 

• Accountability/certification of models (sign-off on models) 

• Need to establish internal Q&A practices for models

− What are the practices? 

− When are they to be performed? 

 After process modeling 

 After baseline (review process modeling and approve) 

 Design of experiments (DOE) 

 Preliminary results 

Healthcare Model Exemplar 

Need to develop a comprehensive supply-chain disaster model for healthcare systems that includes: 

• Determine characteristic models for this event: heterogeneous 
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− System dynamics 

− Agent-based modeling 

− Discrete event 

− Physics 

• Mission driven model (vs. technology driven) 

− For whom 

 Stakeholders 

 Patient centric 

− Disaster Outcomes 

 process flow (according to disaster protocols), health state, treatments 

• Model input and output: achieved through evidence based metrics 

• Model according to event status by phases of events

− Pre-event 

 Vaccine acquisition and administration, distribution 

 Training 

− Post trauma exercise systems 

 Alternate resource planning (facility, staff) 

 Interagency coordination 

− Health department, Emergency Operation Centers (EOCs) 

− Behavioral support (mental health case managers, faith-based support) 

− Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), e.g. American Red Cross 

− Logistical support 

− Utilities and transportation 

− Alternate infrastructures 

− Communication systems (all types) 

− Event 

− Post- event/ long term recovery 

 Living response 

 Fatality response 

 Patient 

 Responders 

 After trauma – exercise value; how to live 

• Prioritization of multiple roles for individual responders (teams) 

• Loss of capabilities 

− Facilities 

 Loss of main hospitals and healthcare facilities, e.g., building structure 

 Key systems or critical infrastructure; e.g., contamination of heating, ventilation, and air 

conditioning (HVAC) 

− Medical records (paper and online/computer) 

− Laboratory storage of contaminants (biological radiation, nuclear hazards) 

− Incapacitation or loss of frontline staff and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) 

− Mutiny, refusal to work or show up for work by responders 

− Use of an emergency health reserve corps 

− Supplies (medications, medical) 

• Regulatory components/policies and SOP’s 

− Mandatory infrastructure 

− Legal documentation (evidence /forensics) 

− Prioritization reallocation for disaster purposes 

− Altered standards of care during emergency/disaster situations 
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• Must maintain control for data integrity 

Recommendations 

• Pharmaceutical approach (already have good processes in SOP) and medical equipment 

− Modeling supply chain safety 

• Healthcare simulation training and education 

− Nursing, medical schools, ancillary health programs

− Engineering programs 

− Architectural 

− Business 

• Certification of healthcare professionals in simulation 

• Certification of users 

• Improve publicly-available: 

− Data sets 

− Models (example: disaster arrival model) 

− Tools 

− Training 

• Find success stories 

• M&S expectations (schedule, phases, costs, time, internal staff (model champions) technology 

and/or data experts) 

• External review panels for publicly funded projects

• Establish staff configurations of modeling teams for different types of modeling projects (identify 

which types of experts are required to solve each type of problems)