Dr. Vasiliki Tsiouri Dr. Vasiliki Tsiouri is currently an Assistant Research Scientist of Chemical Engineering Department and Mary Kay O’ Connor Process Safety Center in Texas A&M University at Qatar. She received her PhD on the inverse modelling of hazardous materials releases from the Mechanical Engineering Dept. of Western Macedonia University, Greece in 2011. She received her Master Degree in Contaminated Land from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK. She worked as a research associate at the Institute of Nuclear Technology and Radiation Protection, NCSR “DEMOKRITOS”, Athens, Greece for more than 7 years. She has conducted extensive studies on atmospheric pollution, dispersion and modeling of radioactive materials, and she has been the main developer of the data assimilation algorithm of one of the integrated codes into the European Real-time On-line DecisiOn Support system “RODOS” for nuclear emergencies. Since 2005 she contributed on the development of novel and efficient data assimilation algorithms to estimate the unknown source characteristics in case of an accidental or malevolent CBRN release and have conducted extensive studies on data assimilation and source parameter estimation methodologies.
In addition she has been involved in European projects concerning nuclear emergency response, and she is currently in the working group Committee of COST ACTION ES1006 ‘Evaluation, Improvement and guidance for the use of local-scale emergency prediction and response tools for airborne hazards in built environments’. One of the aims of the ACTION is to provide qualified datasets for benchmarking emergency response models and to provide Best Practice Guidelines on how to use Atmospheric Dispersion Models in the preparedness phase, emergency, and post-accidental of both hypothetical and actual crisis.
Crisis management and emergency preparedness and response are of primary importance for assuring the safety and health of people and the environment. This presentation focuses on how organizations can prepare themselves in case of an emergency. It examines and presents emergency response tools which can be implemented in Emergency Response Systems in case of CBRN accidents fulfil the management systems crises demand; and can assist the organizations in effectively respond in the crises.
The estimation of the released quantity from the industrial plant during an accident is a key process for researchers and government officials who support decisions impacting the safety of people living and working near power plants. Such accidental releases of hazardous materials into the atmosphere lead to catastrophic results in terms of population casualties and damage to infrastructures and ecosystems. The presentation includes a robust algorithm that is capable of estimating emission sources with a reasonable degree of accuracy. The innovative computational algorithm has been recently developed to estimate the unknown source term of airborne hazard in the atmosphere in case of a CBNR accident and is based on assimilation of concentration/dose rate measured data in atmospheric dispersion models used in emergency response systems (ERS).