Photo: Maui County Mayor Arakawa, Fire Chief Kaupalolo,
and local officials view maps.

Hawaii State Civil Defense and the 93rd Civil Support Team of the Hawaii Army National Guard held a four-day Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) training exercise on Maui, Hawaii, in November 2003.

During the exercise PDC provided technical and modeling support that enabled participating government agencies to respond quickly and effectively to scenario events. PDC products used during the exercise included plume models, GIS maps, and imagery analysis. During the four days of training, exercises were held at different locations with a variety of disaster scenarios, including Kahului Pier 1, the water plant in Haliimaile, War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, and Kahului Airport. Using advanced modeling software called Meteorological Information and Dispersion Assessment System - Anti-Terrorism, (MIDAS-AT), PDC created an exercise model that was sent to each location. Depending on each day's training, PDC supplied valuable plume mapping information to emergency support teams, based on the chemical or biological agent, method of dispersion, amount, the source and origin, as well as ground elevation and weather information.

For example, during a mass casualty exercise at Maui's War Memorial Stadium on Day 3 of the training, information about the WMD incident was relayed to the PDC team. PDC plugged the data into MIDAS-AT, which created plume models every five minutes. PDC then added value to the model outputs by converting model outputs into GIS maps. These maps were sent back to the incident commander at the stadium. These final GIS maps described the situation in a manner that was useful to officials by adding street names, source points, scale information, and general model input information as text on aerial photographs.

PDC's exercise support provided a useful opportunity for participants to become familiar with the MIDAS-AT modeling capabilities. In addition to providing technical support to Hawaii State Civil Defense, PDC also provided exercise participants with CD's containing imagery and digital maps.

Select from the list to view images of the exerise:

PDC imagery map depicting WMD exercise scenario.
Participants handle hazardous materials during a drill.
Hawaii Army National Guard and Maui County Fire Dept. personnel receive information during a drill.