Mitigating Risk in Routing Hazardous Materials under Potential Terrorist Threat
In the wake of 9/11, the importance of both protecting critical infrastructure facilities and maintaining relative ease and fluidity of travel has increased dramatically in direct proportion to escalating risks of terrorist attack. Specifically, the proposed research develops mathematical models to influence vulnerability and risk, as well as to manage local law enforcement resource allocation within a geographic area of interest as it pertains to the ground transportation of hazardous materials in the face of terrorist threat.
To model the network, and to assist in the analysis of risk, a Geographic Information System (GIS) is utilized. Influencing risk within the network is accomplished through the incorporation and combination of traditional interdiction models with elements of spatial queuing. The completed model will provide a dominant sensor placement scheme for the network of interest given the uncertainty associated with a terrorist attack and determine reasonable allocations of local law enforcement resources to obtain maximum influence over the reduction of network risk.
