Melanie Sattler Ph.D., P.E. (Co-PI) University of Texas at Arlington Assistant Professor sattler@uta.

edu

Arpita Gandhi Ph.D. Student University of Texas at Arlington Graduate Research Assistant arpitagandhi@gmail.com

AIR DISPERSION MODELING: PLANNING FOR AIRBORNE TERRORISM RELEASES IN DFW

PROJECT ABSTRACT

Jennifer Cook (RET Teacher) Algebra II, PAP Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus AB Teacher Kennedale High School (Texas) Math Department Chair cookj@kisdtx.net

With the heightened awareness of issues related to natural disasters, homeland security and information security/identity theft, the research projects conducted at the UT Arlington RET site were designed to advance knowledge within and across the fields of civil engineering, computer science and industrial engineering. Participants worked with UT Arlington researchers on a project for six weeks during the summer. As a result of the experiences, teachers have the opportunity to relate real world issues to their students from engineering and research perspectives. The objective of the air dispersion project was to use dispersion modeling to predict concentrations of airborne toxics (biological or chemical agents) following a potential terrorist attack, using the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex as a case study. Various terrorist scenarios were evaluated using HotSpot air dispersion modeling software.

EDUCATIONAL GOALS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

To educate and train high school STEM teachers in inquiry-based research learning, research design, execution and implementation, and in solving real-world hazard-related engineering problems with open-ended solutions. To have the participating teachers apply their research experiences in their classrooms through demonstration curricular modules and enhanced lesson plans. To expose high school students to enhanced curricula, demonstration modules and lesson plans in order to improve their learning skills, and relate their education to contemporary hazard events of critical importance. To improve the knowledge of local STEM teachers (and thus their students) about engineering research and careers in engineering. To focus on the training of underrepresented groups of teachers and eventually students in the target school districts and beyond.

APPROACH/METHODS
The Guassian Dispersion Equation

EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND BROADER IMPACT

>100 rem >0.004 rem

>400 rem

Students will use a simplified version of the Gaussian Dispersion Equation to calculate the maximum downwind concentration of tritium released from the cooling tower at a local nuclear power plant. Students will also use their models to examine other aspects of function behavior, including point of intersection, horizontal asymptotes (limits at infinity), domain and range, function value, and threshold exceedance. Graphing technology will be used to solve a real-world engineering application problem

HotSpot output for 5 lbs high explosive and 10 kg of 226Ra with stability class A and 1 m/s wind speed.

After a series of lectures to introduce them to the basics of air dispersion modeling, the RET Teachers involved in this project chose to research a terrorist attack at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. They used the HotSpot software to model a car 226 bomb explosion. One teacher used Ra as their radioactive 90 isotope, while the other used Sr. They used the HotSpot software to examine the effect of varying the amount of high explosive (5, 50 and 250 lbs) as well as the amount of Material at Risk (1, 5, and 10 kg). They also looked at different wind speeds (1 m/s and 5 m/s) and different stability classes (A and F). They compiled and compared the results of their 36 runs to determine the values that would create the worst-case scenario.