Deterrence, Protection, and Preparation The New Transportation Security Imperative -- Special Report 270 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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3 Examples of Key Research and Technology Needs
3 Examples of Key Research and Technology Needs
Pages 29-39
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From page 29... ...
SYSTEMS-LEVEL RESEARCH Many technological capabilities, new or enhanced, will be needed to support well-designed, layered security systems in the transportation sector. Success will not occur, however, without systems-level research to help establish the big picture within which individual efforts -- some of them novel ideas and innovations, others adaptations of technologies and procedures developed elsewhere with different primary aims -- each must play their separate but interconnected parts.
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From page 30... ...
Deterrent effects of layered countermeasures
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From page 31... ...
90150mvp(pg13_96) 8/28/02 9:13 AM Page 31 31 EXAMPLES OF KEY RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY NEEDS PREVENTION Data-mining and other data evaluation techniques to filter out lower-risk users Understanding of the markers of risk associated with travelers Explosive detection systems capable of detecting a wider range of materials Means to network and combine sensors Standoff and accurate field sensors with low rates of false alarm Biometrics and other means of verifying travelers and operators MONITORING AND MITIGATION Real-time chemical sensors that are effective in complex envi ronments Construction methods to harden transportation facilities Dispersal models for various agents in transportation environments Ways to use dispatch and control systems for consequence management Means of protecting traffic control systems from physical and cyber attacks RESPONSE AND RECOVERY Neutralizing agents, and robots that can be used to test areas and perform decontamination Communications capacity for emergency responders Regional emergency-response plans that coordinate highways and public transit INVESTIGATION AND ATTRIBUTION Integration of investigative capabilities into transportation opera tions and control systems.
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From page 32... ...
To be sure, similar inconveniences would not be so well accepted by passengers in the more time-sensitive modes used for daily commuting, and air travelers' impatience with burdensome security procedures can be expected to grow over time, especially if the pub lic views security procedures as more symbolic than substantive. The development of effective security measures therefore depends not only on good research pertaining to transportation operations, but also on an understanding of human factors.
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From page 33... ...
Privacy and civil rights controver sies, for example, dominate the debate over data-mining and biometric tech nologies for passenger prescreening, identification, and surveillance -- a debate pertinent not only to the transportation sector, but also to other tech nology-based realms.3 Though technological advances will undoubtedly con tinue to offer many new capabilities, some will raise new legal and ethical issues that must be addressed long before those capabilities are used. Sound systems-level research and analyses -- addressing operational, institutional, and societal dimensions -- can bring these issues to light.
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From page 34... ...
Researchers conducting psy chological studies have sought to model criminal attitudes by interviewing perpetrators, and similar studies could presumably be directed to terrorist atti tudes in an effort to better understand the factors influencing their decisions to attack or avoid targets. Such knowledge could prove useful in assessing the deterrent effects of specific tactics, such as the use of chemical-sniffing dogs, the randomized deployment of surveillance cameras, and the publicizing of new but unspecified passenger screening procedures.
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From page 35... ...
New and emerging techniques could help augment existing detection capabilities. For example, three sensor technologies for detecting explosives appear to hold promise: X-ray diffraction, which detects several types of explosives; microwave/ millimeter wave scanners, which can penetrate denser substances; and nuclear quadrupole resonance, which can identify the chemical composition of selected materials.5 See CSTB (2002)
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From page 36... ...
Likewise, the fast and decisive actions taken by local traffic control centers to prevent commuter and subway trains from pass ing under the World Trade Center may have saved hundreds of lives. Monitoring capabilities that are not yet available but could prove crucial in transportation settings include real-time sensors that can rapidly detect the presence of a wide variety of chemical agents.
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From page 37... ...
Specialized research on the dispersal of various agents within different transportation environments is required. An under standing is needed, for instance, of how trains moving in subway tunnels may push contaminants within the underground system and through external vents into the streets above.6 In addition to aiding in the design of sensor net works, such knowledge could help in the development of effective mitigation measures, such as ventilation barriers and filters, and in the formulation of emergency response plans.
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From page 38... ...
Doing so may require a range of capabilities, from specific means to reroute traffic around disrupted areas to the development of well-rehearsed regional emergency response plans that coordinate highway and public transportation systems. The restoration of transportation services following an attack also requires a range of technological capabilities -- for example, neutralizing agents and robots that can survey affected areas and perform decontamina tion, and tools for the rapid repair of key infrastructure elements to render them at least minimally functional.
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From page 39... ...
2002. Guidelines for Managing Suspected Chemical and Biological Agent Incidents in Rail Tunnel System.
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