At 6:30 (Mountain Daylight Time) Thursday morning, the ASPECT plane – a one-of-a-kind emergency response tool operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and supported by Los Alamos National Laboratory – deployed to the wildfires of Southern California. Laboratory personnel are currently onsite with the aircraft to provide chemical analysis support to the EPA, Department of Homeland Security and FEMA.
ASPECT (Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology), the nation’s only 24/7 emergency response aircraft with chemical plume mapping capability, uses infrared technology to visualize invisible, odorless chemicals in the air. ASPECT detectors can determine the chemical composition of a plume and its level of concentration from a distance, alerting emergency crews on the ground of potential hazards.
“Essentially, our job is to offer expertise in the detection of chemical vapors being released from the fires,” said Bob Kroutil of the Laboratory’s Bioscience Division.
Within minutes of the plane arriving on the scene, ASPECT data is collected and a field analysis is performed. The data is simultaneously sent to Los Alamos, where it is further analyzed. The entire process from data collection to a full assessment takes less than 15 minutes.
ASPECT has responded 62 times to accidents and disasters since the program was started in September 2001. The EPA also deployed the ASPECT aircraft during hurricanes Katrina and Rita to collect information on potential releases of chemical vapors due to storm damage and send HazMat responders to specific danger sites to alleviate risk to the community and environment.
Photos and additional information on ASPECT are available online and in the week of Jan. 29, 2007 Los Alamos NewsLetter.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.