CBRNe AGENTS BEHAVIOR

AND
DOWNWIND HAZARD ASSESSMENT
IN URBAN
ENVIRONMENTS
LT COL SHAIFFUL NIZAM BIN ABDUL KHOLID
Downwind Hazard
Assessment
in Urban
Environments
SCOPE OF PRESENTATION

Downwind Hazard in Urban Environment

Field Behavior of Chemical Agent
Wind Anomalies
 PURPOSE OF HAZARD
PREDICTION
To predict area likely to be affected
by CBRN strike
Warn populations and facilities of
the type, effect and duration of hazard
anticipated to affect their area
Provide guidance for subsequent
CBRN protection hazard management,
medical countermeasure and post
strike reconnaissance and survey
HAZARD PREDICTION
REFERENCES

ATP-45 C.
Emergency Respond Guide.
 FIELD BEHAVIOUR OF CBRNe
AGENTS
Planning a response against chemical
incident must consider the prevailing
environmental conditions of the area.
When released, CBRNe agents are
affected by the weather, terrain and obstacles
and their effects will either be increased or
limited.
The responders must conduct an
assessment to determine the likelihood of effect
under the conditions and secondly determine
measures which can be taken to minimize the
effectiveness of the effect.
FACTORS TO BE
CONSIDERED
Temperature
Humidity
Precipitation
Terrain
Vegetation
Wind
 TEMPERATURE
Temperature also affects persistency of
liquid agents as higher temperatures reduces
persistency although they also increase vapor
hazards.

Moderate air temperatures cause increased

persistency.

Extremely low temperatures will freeze and

render agents harmless.

A hot surface will quickly cause

evaporation of liquid agents in vapor form to rise
quickly.
 TEMPERATURE
Temperature gradient is determined to
identify the vertical stability of the atmosphere.
Calculated by subtracting the 0.3 m level air
temperature from the 2.0 m level air temperature.

Lapse (-). Temperature difference is minus two

degrees or the air nearer the ground is warmer.
Therefore the air, including the agent cloud, will move
up from the ground.
Inversion (+). This occurs when the air nearer
to the ground is cooler, or the 2.0 m level temperature
is greater by more than 2 degrees than that at the 0.3
m level. The air and agent cloud will stay near the
ground.
Neutral (+/-2). This condition involves a nearly
constant temperature with increase in altitude. Neutral
conditions occur when the temperature variation
between the 2.0 m level and the 0.3 m level is less
than 2 degrees hotter or colder.
 HUMIDITY
It causes perspiration and
enlargement of the skin pores allowing
deeper penetration of liquids.
It degrades the protective capabilities
of the protective suit.
It increases the susceptibility of the
skin to vapor or aerosol agents.
It breaks down or hydrolyses some
agents into harmless substances.
 PRECIPITATION (RAIN)
Washes the agent from the air.
Flushes agents from the vegetation and
soil into natural drainage such as stream beds
and low lying areas, which become
contaminated.
Hydrolyses some agents into harmless
substances.
Increase the water vapor in the air
reducing the evaporation of liquid agents and
increasing their persistency.
Reduces vapor concentrations.
 TERRAIN EFFECT
Terrain can produce local winds which can either be an asset or a
liability to a force defending against chemical agent attack. The most
important effects are:

Local Thermal Winds. Caused by differential heating

between surfaces having different composition and temperature.
These occur where an open area joins jungle or where land joins
water.

Slope Winds
Up Slope Winds. During the day when a strong lapse
is present the exposed slope of a large mountain will be
heated. When the adjacent air layer becomes warmer than the
air above, it will raised upwards along the mountain slope.
Down Slope Winds. At night when inversion
conditions exist, the cold air will drain down the mountain
slope.
Onshore and Offshore Breezes.
Sea Breezes resulted from the land being heated much
faster than the water by day. The air above the land rises and
the cooler sea air rushes in to takes its place. This causes a
wind known as a sea or onshore breeze to develop.
Land or Offshore Breezes are the opposite to sea
breezes. They occur at night because the land air is cooler
than the air above the sea.
 VEGETATION EFFECTS

Vegetation will trap liquid agents thereby

decreasing ground concentration.
Some agent will defoliate trees over a
period time.
In sparse vegetation, the wind speed is
not affected but the agent cloud tends to break
up due to unpredictable winds eddies and
shifts.
An agent cloud will penetrate downwards
in tropical grasses and will take quite some time
to disperse.
 WIND

WIND SPEED
WIND DIRECTION
MECHANICAL TURBULENCE is the
result of the wind blowing over and
around obstacles such as trees,
buildings and terrain to produce eddies
and currents. This effect dilutes the agent
cloud.
It is important that emergency responders
and managers become familiar with some of
the more common patterns of agent plume
transport and dispersion that develop in
built-up areas.

Familiarity with how wind and other

meteorological conditions effect agent
releases in an urban environment will help
responders better understand potentially
unexpected or counterintuitive agent
transport and dispersion.
Downwind Hazard
Assessment
in Urban
Environments
It is very important to understand that
because of the complexities of urban built
up areas, it is very difficult to generalize
rules for plume transport and dispersion that
work for every case. The “rules-of-thumb”
characterizations were developed to give
emergency responders a general idea of
some of the complexities of transport and
dispersion of plumes in built-up areas.

However, fully expect that for particular

situations some of these generalized “rules”
will not apply.
APPARENT WIND ANOMALIES
AGENT TRAPPING IN VORTICES
AGENT ENTRAPMENT
ON-AXIS CHANNELLING EFFECTS
OFF-AXIS CHANNELLING EFFECTS
EDDY TRANSPORT OF AGENT
LARGE-SCALE WIND VARIABILITY
SMALL SCALE WIND VARIABILITY
AGENT DEPOSITION
INDOOR EFFECTS
QUESTION???