The Department of Homeland Security’s science and technology directorate has created a set of models intended to help federal agencies examine chemical threats and the potential effect of a life-threatening attack.
DHS said Tuesday the Chemical Consequence and Threat platform includes a repository of data from 37 representative targets and 184 substances.
The CCAT tool is designed to facilitate random sampling of metrics such as population density, weather condition, evacuation time to help agencies identify defense investment opportunities.
S&T developed the suite as part of the directorate’s All-hazards Countermeasure Assessment and Planning Tool and to comply with the chemical terrorism analysis requirement under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-22.
“To support this analysis, CSAC’s Chemical Hazard Characterization Program allows DHS to understand what is happening with chemical events around the world, what we need to plan for now domestically, what we may need to plan for in the future, and what actions have the largest effect on our ability to prevent or respond to an attack,†said Rachel Gooding, senior research scientist at S&T’s Chemical Security Analysis Center.