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Better methods: The new computer model requires a population to be grouped into different key demographics. It estimates the cost of evacuating each group and the amount of lead time required.
Michael Metzger
The new software was built using dynamic programming--a technique often employed to solve problems involving uncertainty and parameters that change over time. "It evaluates all the different, possible future outcomes of a decision and then works backwards to make a decision at current time," says Metzger. Richard Larson, a professor of engineering systems and civil and environmental engineering at MIT and Metzger's advisor, says that the technique is well proven. For example, similar approaches are used by American Airlines to determine seat pricing and by football coaches to make real-time strategy decisions.
As the system has not yet been tested on a real evacuation scenario, Metzger says that it is difficult to estimate how much time or money it could save. However, Ergun describes the technology as "very impressive."
Once the data is available, Metzger's model will be tested against the decisions made by officials during the 2008 hurricane season. Larson says that this will be completed by May 2009, and he believes that the model could be used initially as a training tool. "Just as pilots use flight simulators, if decision makers can go through different scenarios, they are going to be better at it when the real thing happens."
Ike is expected to make landfall this weekend near Corpus Christi, TX. Texas governor Rick Perry has put 7,500 National Guard members on standby, and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has told residents to start stocking up on supplies as shelters and evacuation transportation is readied.
The largest-ever storm monitoring mission is now gathering scientific data that was previously impossible to get.
With the 2007 hurricane season under way, scientists believe their new forecasting model will make more-accurate predictions, thereby saving lives.
Engineers have built a portable device that can simulate the effects of a hurricane.
I live in south Florida and have went through 7 hurricanes. It is not the planning which is the problem it is the local governments decision making abilities, and the ability of the local government to execute on a given plan which is the major problems.
Brian Glassman
Commercialization
Innovation Management
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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MarcoMan
1 Comment
Confused Public Policy
Forget better weather prediction, if you live in a hurricane zone you should have better building codes. Reinforced concrete buildings with proper storm shutters do not go down in hurricanes. Houses built with 2x4s go down like trailer parks. And Alabama's and Louisiana's infrastructure is just about as good as that of Haiti (massive deforestation and people living in flood plains). Post Katrina New Orleans building code was re-legislated to be like Miami-Dade's building code. And in Miami houses do not come down in hurricanes any longer. The last piece of the puzzle is to bury the electrical wires; only then will hurricanes be non events. In other words, hurricanes are not, to borrow an insurance term, "acts of God", but consequence of our own stupidity. You would not build a house in Vermont without central heating. Why would you build a house in the Gulf of Mexico that was not hurricane proof???
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bpg131313
6 Comments
Re: Confused Public Policy
I completely agree with MarcoMan. Houses that are destroyed in hurricane zones are destroyed simply due to a lack of intelligence and planning when constructing these buildings in the first place. The first excuse everyone gives is, "It costs too much." Oh really? How much do the taxpayers pay every time we have to send in National Guard to rescue people? How much do the taxpayers pay when FEMA rolls in and starts handing out supplies and money? How much do others pay when the insurance companies fork out billions to the insured? When the real numbers are all added up, the cost of constructing hurricane-proof buildings is cheap.
Burying the electrical lines is a great first step (you'd think the electric companies would have figured this one out LONG AGO!). Making sure that natural gas and water lines are closed before the storm strikes is essential to ensuring that the area remains safe when toppling large trees break underground lines.
The building codes must be changed before rebuilding begins. The biggest mistake we can make now is letting them rebuild houses that'll simply be blown away in the next hurricane.
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