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Friday, April 30, 2004

"ANTI-TERROR: Pentagon tests toxin detection and forecast system"
Scott Swerdlin describes how the blimp with the 23-foot-long sensor-studded tether that is now hovering over the Pentagon is about to conduct novel tests of simulated airborne toxins. As the blimp releases a faux poison over the course of the next two weeks, a real-time system designed for first responders will gauge how much of the toxin has been discharged and where, and then predict where the plume will drift and how it will disperse. Results of the effort, which is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, will be incorporated into an umbrella protection regime against chemical, biological and radiological toxins that can be adapted to all Defense Department facilities and foreign embassies. "What we think is really novel about this system, making it the only one in the world, is that it uses what we call multiscale forecasting," said project leader Swerdlin, a software engineer at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Audio Interview / Text: http://eetimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=19400051