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Division Head: Chris Doyle
The Infrastructure and Geophysical Division’s mission is to increase the Nation’s preparedness for and response to natural and man-made threats through superior situational awareness, emergency response capabilities, and critical infrastructure protection. The division develops technical solutions and reach-back capabilities to improve Federal, State, local, tribal, and private sector preparedness for and response to all-hazards events impacting the U.S. population and critical infrastructure.
The Division also develops modeling and simulation and analysis capabilities applicable to communities, regions, the Nation and its critical infrastructures to determine how various scenarios will affect each sector, provide decision support tools to guide decision makers in identifying gaps and vulnerabilities, and develop predictive tools and methods to aid in preparing for and responding to various catastrophes.
The primary Federal customers for the Infrastructure and Geophysical Division are the Department’s Office of Infrastructure Protection (OIP), National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), who represent end-users including first responders; Federal, State, and local emergency managers; and critical infrastructure owners and operators.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Advanced Concepts & Special Studies Project utilizes a systems approach in reviewing all preparedness and response capabilities to look for compatibility and interoperability issues across all projects. The ability to plan for these studies several years in advance varies by type.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Advanced First Responder Locator Project develops an advanced first responder locating system. It builds off efforts in previous years by including integrated sensor components and software for visualizing locations and tracks for incident commanders (such as building diagrams, floor maps, office/apartment location), and secure connectivity to emergency operation centers (EOCs). In this manner, incident commanders and decision makers will be able to observe visually responders, their tracks, resources, and activities that will enhance overall situational awareness during an incident.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division First Responder Physiological Monitoring Project develops an integrated sensor package that will monitor a responder’s vital signs such as cardiac rhythm, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and oxygen saturation, which could indicate Pre-Ventricular Contractions (PVCs) or cardiac arrhythmias. First responders need a highly reliable metric and notification system for on-scene identification of firefighters who are about to experience an immediate heart attack or other life-threatening condition. This project plans to fuse these measurements to establish the physical health of the responder based on a set of metrics, and alarm both the wearer and command staff to prevent loss of life.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Advanced Surveillance Systems Project develops advanced surveillance technologies to more effectively monitor critical infrastructure and reduce manpower requirements. Activities will focus on developing automated anomaly detection that will replace operator-dependent monitoring of large numbers of cameras. The project will design systems to interpret information from multiple surveillance modes (such as closed-circuit television cameras, infrared cameras, intrusion detection alarms, acoustic sensors) and provide actionable information to infrastructure operators.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Advanced Incident Management Enterprise System Project (AIMES) – develops the next-generation incident management enterprise system that will revolutionize the way our Nation’s responders handle incidents. It builds upon the UICDS architecture and TELL framework by providing an integrated, interoperable, and unified common operating picture with total visibility into: o incident information; o resources; o environment; o logistics supply chain; o response and recovery plans; o methods; o tactics; and o policies. AIMES is a technology leap to integrate all elements of the incident management enterprise in order to provide a secure, scalable, interoperable, and unified situational awareness to the responder community.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Blast/Projectile - Advance Materials Design (Basic Research) Project conducts basic research in conjunction with existing Federal investments in nanotechnology and other materials science efforts to develop extremely strong, lightweight, resilient materials. These advanced materials, design procedures for their use, and innovative construction methods will enable more effective and affordable hardening and provide increased resiliency assets deemed most vital to the safety, economy, and security of the Nation, for both existing infrastructure and new construction.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Blast/Projectile - Protective Measures and Design Tools Project provides enhanced and additional protective measures along with the tools required to design them for the Nation’s most critical infrastructure assets. Protective measures could include blast protection, rapid restoration, and other counter measures. The project plans to numerically analyze designs against blast and projectile threats and to conduct physical demonstrations to assess their effectiveness. This work will seek to mature and expand existing protective measures by making existing designs less expensive, easier to apply, and more effective, and will derive entirely new materials and design concepts for additional classes of infrastructure.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Blast/Projectile Project conducts basic research to understand the blast failure mechanisms of the most vital critical infrastructures such as dams, tunnels and bridges. The project also investigates advanced materials, design procedures, and innovative construction methods that can be used to protect critical infrastructure and key resources. It leverages existing Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Transportation (DOT), and Department of Energy (DOE) research and development, along with existing federal investment in materials science, including nanotechnology.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Blast/Projectile - Unified Blast Analysis Tool Project develops a uniform platform for practical, fast analysis of existing vulnerabilities for key assets and effectiveness of protective upgrades including those developed in the basic research in FY 2007 and FY 2008 programs. This tool will improve CI/KR capabilities to design against threats from blast and projectiles by providing advanced analysis capabilities to the communities that design protective measures for key assets.
Program Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Community Based Critical Infrastructure Protection Institute Program supports university and private industry partnerships to develop community-based homeland security technologies and mature them so that they can become commercially viable. Products include: continuous monitoring of beef cattle; monitoring and securing milk from farm to processor; advances in less expensive biometrics for iris and handprint imaging; advanced surveillance techniques; an inexpensive coating for ammonium nitrate fertilizer to make it less explosive; and development of affordable nano-materials for blast mitigation. One product from this program- a mobile command center for emergency responders has been demonstrated and sold to local response units. In FY 2008, the program approved funding for eleven additional projects. These include underwater threat detection projects; advanced materials for blast resistance projects; remote sensing of bridge safety; a rapid drying concrete to stabilize damaged structures; a portable power transformer that can be deployed in a disaster; and a large scale pandemic flu study. In addition, there is a project to track HAZMAT shipments on trucks, which is a continuation of a TSA pilot program that was discontinued due to lack of funding.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Complex Event Modeling, Simulation, and Analysis (CEMSA) (formerly known as Real-time Decision Support Tool) provides 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 project will focus on interdependencies and cascading effects and the dynamics of multi-event and multi-vector attacks. IGD will start this project in FY 2009 to meet the Infrastructure Protection Integrated Product Team (IPT)-identified capability gaps.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Decision Support Tool Augmentation Project assesses state of the art advances in decision theory and determines suitability for incorporation into decision support systems and data feeds. This basic research effort will build on on-going MSA and common operating picture advances accomplished in the CIPAC program in FY 2009 through FY 2011.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Incident Logistics and Resource Tracking System Project provides a comprehensive and transparent disaster logistics enterprise across the entire area of responsibility of all disaster response, public and private, partners. This capability will provide decision makers overall situational awareness relative to the public and private inventories, locations of resources, and supplies as it relates to timely procurement and disbursement supplies. The tracking system will allow FEMA to manage more effectively critical resources and will enhance real-time coordination and situational awareness, setting the standard for all disaster response partners. This capability will be scalable and interoperable with Federal, State and local systems (legacy and future) to enable efficient use of the supply chain by identifying the best routes between staging areas, disaster site, and supply areas.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center (IMAAC) Project coordinates all national capability in atmospheric modeling and provides the single Federal prediction of atmospheric hazards and their consequences. IMAAC model predictions are distributed throughout the incident command structure across Federal, State and local jurisdictions for improved situational awareness.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Project develops highly innovative and revolutionary protective materials and materials systems that can be used by emergency responders, Federal, State, local and tribal law enforcement officers, and other homeland security operators (e.g., Border patrol agents, USCG), in all hazardous environments. PPE made with these materials will have properties such as: self-decontamination for chemical and/or biological agents; increased service life; self-healing upon being compromised (e.g., ripped, torn); and flame resistance.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Rapid Mitigation and Recovery Project (formerly known as Rapid Response and Recovery) provides rapid mitigation and recovery technologies for CI/KR assets to limit damage and consequences, and quickly resume normal operations. There is a basic research and transition component to this project. The basic research portion will focus on longer-term needs and will investigate techniques for rapid repair of dams. The transition portion focuses on near-term needs of OIP; specifically it will develop protective technologies to mitigate damage to a stationary storage tank or a railcar from a puncture or small caliber weapon impact.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Recovery Transformer Project specifies, designs, builds, and demonstrates a new type of transformer to be used during recovery from emergency grid blackouts. The recovery transformer will be designed for easy transport and installation, low maintenance and long service life. IGD will partner with OIP and the Department of Energy (DOE). This project was formerly known as New Electrical Grid Transformer.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Regional Technology Integration Initiative – Anaheim Project deploys and demonstrates technology solutions in and around the Anaheim Convention Center (ACC). IGD concentrates its efforts on: secure two-way access to new sources of information; improved sensors and monitoring capabilities for detection of chemical agent or large scale biological attacks; and integration of new capabilities into the region’s current and emerging infrastructure to create a comprehensive situational awareness picture. This system will establish an optimum process to check people, packages, containers, and vehicles entering the ACC for explosives or explosive devices, while minimizing the normal flow of events at the ACC. Customers that will benefit from this program are State and local first responders in and around the Anaheim Convention Center. Users include: Anaheim Convention Center personnel, the city managers office, Anaheim law enforcement, Anaheim fire and rescue responders, and Orange County, Calif. emergency response personnel.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Regional Technology Integration Initiative – Anaheim Project deploys and demonstrates technology solutions in the Cincinnati Urban Area includes the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, a portion of southwestern Ohio, southeastern Indiana and northern Kentucky. Building upon the results of the regional preparedness needs assessment phase and in cooperation with the Office of Grants and Training IGD will seek to develop, integrate, and implement several technologies for Cincinnati, to include: Wired/wireless access to a “virtual EOC” capability; Enhanced regional interoperable communications for voice and data exchange; Regional exercise capability that more effectively engages all ESFs and multiple jurisdictions in the Cincinnati Urban Area; and Enhanced regional alert and notifications systems.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Regional Technology Integration Initiative – Seattle Project serves as a blueprint for future planning of additional investment in communications systems and addresses known gaps, such as the need for high-speed mobile data and two-way mobile video, the development of new wireless technologies, and the availability of new spectrum for communications. RTI Seattle will address incident credentialing to provide a capability for the commanders to identify, track, and locate responders in a timely fashion. This will ensure that the right number of resources are dispatched to respond to an event and can be contacted, if needed. Current information from across the region will be consolidated and interfaced with new sources of information in an interoperable data portal and provide a “picture” of the region for situational awareness.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Sector and Threat Specific Modeling Simulation and Analysis (MSA) Project implements a transition plan for deployment of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Decision Support System (CIPDSS) to the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC) and pilots interdependencies tool to model regional interdependencies that support OIP-driven interactions with key stakeholders, such as the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC), Government Coordinating Councils (GCC) , Sector Coordinating Councils (SCC), and sector subject matter experts . The project allows these stakeholders to vet metropolitan and national-scale CIPDSS models and provide analysis support for national exercises and drills.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Virtual Incident Planning and Emergency Ops (VIPER) Project provides a capability for FEMA to provide accurate and reliable estimates of possible hazards from a wide range of natural and terrorist events, analyze and use route mapping to effectively manage transportation assets during mass evacuations or the post-event flow of emergency supplies, and conduct impact analysis that provides a better understanding of possible impacts from natural disasters and terrorist events. This capability will leverage the results of the TELL project and will focus on three tracks: • Model development; • Integration Framework; and • Support for conducting planning exercises. IGD will use a spiral-development process to insert technology as it matures and to refine requirements and concepts before committing to significant development efforts.
Initiative Overview: The South East Regional Research Initiative or SERRI offers community-based, regionally-deployed solutions to homeland security challenges. It is a pilot research and development program that aims to assist state, local, and tribal leaders in the developing tools and methods required to anticipate and forestall terrorist events and to enhance disaster response. The initiative addresses the capability gaps and required needs through science and technology to develop and deliver enduring and focused technical and practical capabilities for state, local, and private sectors, who share common regional homeland security issues and needs. The initial pilot states include Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Training, Exercise & Lessons Learned (TELL) Project develops 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 during emergency situations. TELL incorporates training objectives, scenarios, and metrics defined by other programs, and the capability to capture lessons learned to improve future emergency response capabilities. TELL addresses the overarching need of successful implementation of the NIMS and the ability to conduct quick, repeatable, economical, and effective means of training incident commanders so they can be better prepared to handle complex incidents.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Underwater Surveillance – Basic Research Project i– studies bubble jetting resulting from underwater explosions and its impact on vertical structures (such as dam spillway gates and navigation locks), and then determines appropriate standoff distances for submerged targets, thus defining which areas will require surveillance. Defining parameters for effective underwater surveillance is currently limited by fundamental knowledge of underwater blast effects. This research will have the added benefit of informing effective design of blast mitigation measures for underwater targets.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Underwater Surveillance – Dams and Tunnels Project provides advanced, automated, affordable underwater monitoring and surveillance technologies to detect underwater threats against dams and tunnels. The technologies will be capable of operating in harsh environments for extended periods and should seamlessly and transparently integrate into existing infrastructure security operations.
Project Overview: The S&T Directorate Infrastructure and Geophysical Division Unified Incident Command and Decision Support (UICDS) Project develops a framework based on NIMS/ Incident Command System (ICS) and NRP and develops compliant tools to manage and share incident information that will enhance Incident Command Systems and Multi-Agency Coordination common situational awareness and decision support during all types of incidents. UICDS framework will be based on an open-architecture to allow multiple responding organizations (using their own equipment) to jointly manage personnel, direct equipment, and seamlessly communicate, gather, store, redistribute, and secure any mission-critical information needed by incident commanders and emergency responders during an emergency situation.
This page was last reviewed/modified on September 16, 2008.
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