NARAC develops and maintains a suite of multi-scale atmospheric flow and dispersion models that predict the health-related effects and other impacts of atmospheric releases of radiological, chemical, and biological materials over local, regional, continental, and global scales. The models are supplemented by regularly-updated global databases of geographical data; radiological, chemical and biological material properties; and exposure-related information such as dose conversion factors, health risk levels, and protective action guides. A distributed system architecture couples together data, models, and product generation software to support both fully automated predictions and expert analyses conducted by NARAC staff. Some of the key features of this validated, real-time, operational modeling system include:
- Flexible model grids for variable spatial resolution of meteorological information and material concentrations, re-locatable anywhere in the world in real-time
- 3-dimensional meteorological data assimilation and numerical weather prediction models that takes terrain into account
- Detailed atmospheric dispersion modeling of different materials, including deposition processes and precipitation scavenging
- Real-time meteorological data acquisition
- Global geographical, terrain elevation, and population databases
- Extensive database of material properties and release scenarios
- Dose response models and health-risk factors
- Specialized models and algorithms for simulating thermal and momentum plume rise, high-explosive detonations (for "dirty bomb" releases), and nuclear detonations
- Tools to perform source estimation and model refinement using radiological measurement data
