Plume Reconstruction and Microenvironmental Modeling for Assessing Exposures to Contaminants Associated with the WTC Fire and Collapse
P. Georgopoulos,Q. Sun, V. Vyas, S.W. Wang, C. Efstathiou, E. Jayjock, P. Lioy, A. Miretzky, P. Shade, G. Stenchikov (EOHSI, UMDNJ - R.W. Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University)
This project has been focusing on the development and implementation of an integrated computer-based Exposure Information System (EXIS) intended to support assessments of population exposures and doses for contaminants released from and following the World Trade Center (WTC) fire and collapse on 9/11/2001. This system, WTC-EXIS, includes both observational databases and prognostic/diagnostic computational modules, jointly used to characterize the spatial and temporal attributes of the contaminant plume and deposition over multiple scales, and the air quality of affected local microenvironments (street canyons, residences, offices, stores, etc.). Distributions of microenvironmental parameters and of human activities are being developed at resolutions that depend on distance from the WTC site (the highest being for the census blocks of the 84 census tracts within 2.5 km distance from the WTC site). Components of WTC-EXIS include: (a) multiscale atmospheric transport and fate analysis tools, utilizing U. Colorado's prognostic mesoscale Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS), coupled with EOHSI's Computational Chemodynamic Laboratory's (CCL) dynamic fate modules and with local computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modules; (b) computational tools of the MENTOR/SHEDS (Modeling Environment for Total Risk with Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation) system, developed jointly by CCL and USEPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL); (c) relational databases and geodatabases, of contaminant-related observations (from both local monitoring efforts and remote sensing stations), meteorological, land-use, microenvironmental, and demographic information; and (d) a Geographical Information System (GIS) interface (implemented in ArcInfo/ArcGis), to facilitate usage of information by researches involved in related health impact studies.