CHEMICAL TRANSPORT ANALYST

The Chemical Transport Analyst or CT- Analyst is a rapid urban plume modeling and hazard assessment system developed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. In the event of a chemical, biological, or radiological incident, the platform provides emergency management responders a tool that provides accurate, instantaneous, three-dimensional predictions of chemical, biological, & radiological agent transport in urban settings.

CT-Analyst uses the best computations possible prepared well ahead of time and captures their salient results in a highly compressed database to be manipulated and displayed instantly. CT-Analyst can provide answers to first responders in approximately 0.05 seconds versus computational fluid dynamics models, which can take one to two hours to run per scenario. CT-Analyst also provides more detailed information, quicker, and with better results than industry accepted "Puff/Plume" models that take several minutes to run.

Three fourths of fatalities from direct exposure to a CBR agent can be traced back to the first 15 minutes of an event. If effective response begins in three to five minutes, 85% of these fatalities can be avoided. CT-Analyst allows users in the field and at operational nerve centers to work together, using the same data to effectively monitor and adjust planning and logistics as information is gathered or updated. CT-Analyst allows those analyzing a CBR scenario to view exposed and soon-to-be exposed regions based on very limited data. CT-Analyst also allows emergency management personnel to instantaneously project optimal evacuation paths based on the current evolving situation assessment.

CT Analyst currently Deployed in Hamburg Germany

The Naval Research Laboratory worked with the Univerisity of Hamburg to simulate the modeling capability for the city of Hamburg using CT-Analyst. A modified version of the software was handed over to the chief of the Hamburg Fire Brigade in a ceremony held at the City Hall in Hamburg, Germany, on January 26, 2012.

A custom version of CT-Analyst with the specific geometry of the city of Hamburg (the second largest city in Germany) was developed and validated in collaboration with the University of Hamburg researchers. Wind and tracer measurements were made in a scale model of the city in their large environmental wind tunnel, and these measurements were used to validate results from CT-Analyst. Upon successful blind validation at University of Hamburg, CT-Analyst was declared ready for operational testing by the Hamburg Fire Brigade and deployed.

CT-Analyst screen view shows the simulated city of Hamburg, Germany, from the top with colored pollutant cloud.