توسعه سیستم اطلاعات نشت مبتنی بر سیستم اطلاعات جغرافیایی

Spill Management Information System (SMIS) is a geographic information system (GIS)-based decision support system designed to effectively manage the risks associated with accidental or intentional releases of a hazardous material into an inland waterway. SMIS provides critical planning and impact information to emergency responders in anticipation of, or following such an incident. SMIS couples GIS and database management systems (DBMS) with the 2-D surface water model CE-QUAL-W2 Version 3.1 and the air contaminant model Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) while retaining full GIS risk analysis and interpretive capabilities. Live ‘real-time’ data links are established within the spill management software to utilize current meteorological information and flowrates within the waterway. Capabilities include rapid modification of modeling conditions to allow for immediate scenario analysis and evaluation of ‘what-if’ scenarios. The functionality of the model is illustrated through a case study of the Cheatham Reach of the Cumberland River near Nashville, TN.

In order to more effectively manage risks associated with accidental or intentional chemical releases into the environment, the Nashville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) engaged Vanderbilt University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to develop a decision support system (DSS) to aid responders in identifying, responding to, and mitigating the effects of chemical release incidents. The project goal was to develop a Spill Management Information System (SMIS), coupling geographic information systems (GIS) with advanced water quality and air dispersion models to provide real-time information to emergency responders following an incident involving hazardous materials [1]. For this application, hazardous materials were defined as any commodity, including petroleum products that, if released, would pose considerable danger to human health and the environment. Additionally, the SMIS application was designed for short-term impact mitigation activities, as opposed to the evaluation of long-term chronic impacts of a contaminant spill. SMIS was designed to overcome many of the communications and coordination challenges generated following a spill incident by providing responders with access to uniform information comprised of real-time incident information and maps, contaminant transport models, chemical response data, areal displays of contaminant procession, and locations of sensitive receptors. Proper utilization of this tool greatly reduces the time required to acquire and decipher pertinent chemical data, establish jurisdiction of responder responsibility, locate available waterbody access points, identify proximity of emergency response units (i.e., fire, police, U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)), and generate local contacts for community notification to protect against toxic vapor exposure. Two types of information systems underpin SMIS: GIS and a database management system (DBMS). GIS is an information technology utilized to maintain and analyze geographic data capable of organizing data into layers and relating sets by geography. Certain relationships and operational trends are more easily conveyed in a geographic context than in a traditional tabular format [1]. GIS functionality may also be delivered through a standard Internet browser, a valuable feature enabling the distribution of uniform and current data [2]. GIS has been broadly adopted for use with predictive models providing functions for data storage, calculation of required parameters, data manipulation, and output processing [3]. GIS capabilities have also been employed to provide spatial decision support systems (SDSS) with output display, spatial data management, and interface functions [4], [5] and [6]. The relatively weak user interface but strong computational capabilities of most water quality models [5] underscore the benefits garnered from employing GIS as the front-end application for SMIS. The review work of Martin et al. [7] elucidates the benefits realized by employing GIS with water resources predictive models, techniques of interface, and current trends in development. DBMS refers to software that collects, manipulates, queries, and retrieves tabular data. Efficient database construction and combination of project-relevant datasets into a single application reduces instances of data redundancy, error, and computational lag time. Dobbins and Abkowitz [8] chronicle the development of a centralized response database for several modes of hazardous materials transport. This project was accomplished by identifying the most commonly used emergency response databases for all modes of transportation, developing relationships between the data, and building intuitive interfaces allowing for rapid information retrieval. Resultantly, facility and vessel operators benefit from having access to a comprehensive chemical database, rapidly accessible in the event of a release or human contact with the material [8]. Dobbins and Abkowitz [2] further explore the effectiveness of this approach through the development of a prototype decision support system (DSS) employing global positioning system (GPS), GIS, and the Internet for inland waterway barge accidents. In the event of an incident, this system enables en-route responders to view incident details via an Internet GIS map service. This manuscript serves to provide a proof-of-principle demonstration of SMIS within a case study environment. Daniel et al. [9] detail the architectural requirements for SMIS and advancements in developing a decision support system (DSS) within the model. This paper begins with an overview of system components comprising SMIS, including the interfacing of surface water quality and air quality models. Data input and other pre-processing functions are then described, followed by methods of SMIS execution, data output, and results interpretation. A case study, highlighting the Cheatham Reach of the Cumberland River located in Nashville, TN is used to illustrate SMIS capabilities. The paper concludes with a summary of SMIS competencies, limitations, and plans for future phases of work.

A closely coupled hydrodynamic/pollutant transport GIS model provides functionality for data capture, data editing, pre-processing, embedded artificial intelligence and result interpretation. The use of SMIS can improve and enhance the rapid identification of receptor sites and fate of pollutants, improving response time and mitigation strategies in the event of a discharge. Keeping SMIS ‘hot’ by dynamically linking the model to real-time streamflow and meteorologic information can reduce the time required to provide predictive model capability. SMIS also provides each incident responder with access to the same maps and contaminant spill information that other responders possess. Updates to chemical spill activity and its location relative to critical infrastructure items such as water intakes or water access points can be provided to all responders simultaneously. Overall, SMIS capabilities serve to enhance preparedness, response time, information access, and the employment of suitable contaminant transport modules. Establishment of SMIS as part of an organization’s environmental response program can assist environmental response teams by improving their ability to coordinate with other agencies to ensure an appropriate and adequate response to a chemical spill emergency. In addition, SMIS can provide invaluable training opportunities through execution of spill response exercises, as well as enhanced decision support through implementation of “what-if” scenarios both during exercises and actual spill incidents. In essence, SMIS is a software tool designed to help answer the crucial question in any Area Contingency Plan: How do I develop a plan that protects my area against likely spills? The use of this GIS-based interface module can improve first responders’ understanding and fate of pollutants, potentially improving response time and mitigation efforts in the event of a deliberate or intentional spill. At the same time, this analysis tool can assist in the implementation and preparation of abatement tactics. This system promotes the successful and accurate application of sophisticated hydrodynamic/pollutant transport and air dispersion simulation through a simple GUI. The use of this tool can improve the communication of the basic patterns associated with hydrodynamic/pollutant and air dispersion transport. This merger possesses the ability to assist responders in better defining spill mitigation approaches, promote a shared view of intended response activities, and ultimately permit better communication of these problems to stakeholders. In this age of vast information availability, decision makers must work to develop improved tools to disseminate and interpret the increasing amount of available data. Predictive models coupled with GIS technology will enhance model performance, as demonstrated in this paper, and ultimately improve decision making capability.