SIRRA
Sustainable Installations Regional Resource Assessment
Welcome to SIRRA Version 1a. For details about the changes made from SIRRA Version Beta, click here.
SIRRA Version 1a web-based analysis tool provides a first level screening intended to assist users in answering four types of questions related to sustainability using spatially related national data sets. These questions are:
- What are important across the fenceline sustainability issues for an installation?
- How can unit transformation and stationing requirements be best met on existing or new DoD installations?
- How does sustainability compare across a range of installations, for example, in the context of realignment of forces?
- What is the regional context of an installation for one or a group of sustainability indicators?
The SIRRA methodology is a process of characterizing the region surrounding a military installation based on an evaluation of ten themes: air, energy, urban development, threatened and endangered species, location, water, economy, quality of life, infrastructure, and security. The SIRRA methodology provides resource assessment ratings for forty-eight individual regional indicators. SIRRA relies on existing national data sets primarily from federal or other national organizations that manage or collect the data. Statistical analyses were completed for each indicator, where required, to assign sustainability thresholds and ratings. The data was then mapped into GIS coverages for individual indicators coded as red, amber, or green. Military installations are placed geographically in a location and the GIS data is applied to evaluate regional aspects of the installation setting. It is important to note that the ratings are related to data from the counties and watersheds that installations lie within, and not the installations themselves.
Collectively, indicators can aid in identifying potential issues that should be considered when stationing, base realignment, and mission sustainment decisions are made. This information can also inform installation sustainability planning. Some limitations of this study do necessitate caution in the use and application of the results. The set of indicators are based on the expert judgments and consensus of the project team and were somewhat restricted by the available data. The identification of specific thresholds and classifications is subjective in some cases, and alternative classifications are possible. The goal of the database is to provide useful insight into identifying relative ratings for resource issues across installations and these results should not be interpreted as absolute. Different installations have different regional resource issues and differing missions--application of the data should be done with this in mind.
