Military elements deployed in potential hot zones can rapidly deploy LR-x® to determine CBRN threat levels to troops in place and choose the best course of action. This scenario was one of the key drivers of the Army Research Laboratory’s work on the original L-REAC™ system, now LR-x®.
Built on Army research
The L-REAC™ concept came out of the 2003–2007 urban field studies ARL ran at White Sands Missile Range, which examined airflow and stability around urban buildings. During the final study, ARL ran emergency response drills with local responders and saw the need for real-time atmospheric data at their fingertips. Diamond B Technology Solutions licensed the system exclusively in 2017 and continues to work with ARL.
How the patented system works
Per ARL’s patent (U.S. Patent 9,911,303, “System to Evaluate Airborne Hazards”), the system evaluates airborne hazards using as few as one sensor module that detects atmospheric conditions, generates a calculated wind flow and plume footprint over an area of interest, and displays it in near real time.
Terrain, buildings and GIS
The wind model is ARL’s own 3D wind field model, which maps how air moves over terrain and around buildings rather than assuming one wind for the whole area. Its terrain data covers about 80% of the world, everywhere except the extreme polar regions, so the same model works on installations at home and deployments abroad. How the 3D wind field model works.
LR-x® exports the real-time plume model, the real-time 3D wind field model and the three forecast models as KML files you can use in ArcGIS.
In 2018, LR-x® was briefed and demonstrated at White Sands Missile Range, where the Commanding General approved deployment at WSMR.