Using rapid environmental assessment to improve the hazard prediction and assessment capability for weapons of mass destruction /

by Ross, Victor B.

The Oceanographer of the Navy is responsible for the environmental data portion of the "4-D cube". This is a new concept that creates a Virtual Natural Environment that must be capable of rapid environmental updates. This research investigates using in situ atmospheric measurements to improve the performance of the Navy mesoscale model, Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System. These enhanced, operational model forecasts are used to supply atmospheric forcing to a dispersion model, the Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability, and the outcome is evaluated to determine the impact of the additional data.