Register Now For…  Putting First Responders First: 2008 Homeland Security S&T Stakeholders Conference–West January 14-17 Los Angeles, CA The conference is presented by the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), with subject matter support provided by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. The State of California Governor’s Office of Homeland Security is a key participant. The theme for the conference is “Putting First Responders First,” and the event will focus on the technology needs of first responders and emergency management personnel at all levels of government. For more information, visit www.ndia.org/meetings/8690.

Find It and Plug It

There’s a whole underground culture working for DHS. Scientists and engineers from different countries are peering and roaming about underground—that’s, literally, underground—to examine tunnels. In short, they’re trying to detect tunnels that shouldn’t be there … and protect the ones that should.

With funding from the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate, researchers are tracking how seismic waves caused by vibrations travel through various layers of soil. By analyzing the movement of these waves (sometimes called rays), experts may be able to detect the presence of tunnels that are dug illegally along the U.S. border, usually by smugglers and possibly by terrorists.

Other researchers are examining the structure of large tunnels, such as railroad and highway tunnels that are crucial to everyday life. They’re trying to design a system that can automatically deploy giant air bags if a tunnel starts to collapse or sustains a gaping blast hole. These air bags would be made of some kind of heavy-duty, but inflatable, material that would temporarily seal breaks in the tunnel. They could allow just enough time for people to evacuate.

Both projects are part of a series of research grants issued recently by the S&T Directorate’s International Programs. The grants are given to teams of U.S. and foreign universities that are partnering on homeland security research.

Tunnel Detection

Researchers are taking hammers to sensors aboveground to detect tunnels underneath—sometimes with startling precision.

The tunnel detection work is led by the University of Mississippi and the University of Alberta in Canada. Craig Hickey, a professor of geological engineering and physics at UMiss, directs the project. Basically, he bangs a hammer onto a line of sensors called geophones, which are placed strategically aboveground. Then, he uses a receiver hooked to a seismograph to track the resulting seismic waves as they travel through the ground.

“We’re measuring the timing and propagation of the waves,” says Hickey. “We’re looking at the velocity and path of each.” The technique, he says, is similar to ultrasonic imaging that is used in hospitals to make a medical diagnosis.

If a tunnel is underneath where Hickey and his team are working, they can usually note that the wave will travel in an unusual kind of way. The wave may quickly refract, for instance, back up to the receiver. “A tunnel affects the density and the elasticity of the ground around it,” he says.

Once all of the measured waves are recorded, Hickey charts them on a computer through a process called seismic refraction tomography—like a cross-sectional view of the area below (sample chart below). Hickey can often see abnormalities in the chart where a tunnel is located, sometimes with startling precision.

If Hickey’s method can be applied on a large scale, it could be a handy tool for border agents and law enforcement agencies. He says it may even be used to test the strength of levees, by looking at the density of the ground underneath them.

Tunnel Protection

Researchers are examining the “tunnel plug” used for fires to see if the same technology can seal breaks in tunnels to allow time to evacuate.

The tunnel protection work, meanwhile, is a collaborative effort between West Virginia University (WVU) and Lindstrand Technologies, based in the United Kingdom. Lindstrand manufactures air balloons and other inflatable structures. It has a prototype “tunnel plug” that could be used, if a fire breaks out, to seal off the openings of the tunnel, and thereby deprive the fire of the oxygen that it needs to burn.

Julio Davalos, a professor of structural engineering at WVU, is trying to take the tunnel plug idea to the next step—envisioning it as a way to actually seal breaks in tunnels or hold back the pressure from a break. More research is needed, and it’s still unclear what kind of material or “reinforced fabric” would be used, says Davalos. But the concept works like this: If a tunnel fails or bursts, sensors would activate a system—likely attached to the ceiling—that would deploy huge air bags on both sides of the breach to hold back debris or water. “We’re probably looking at anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour, depending on the significance of the event,” he says.

His first challenge, though, is to develop the deployable system itself. How would it be designed and installed? What type of sensors would trigger it to deploy? What exactly would it be sensing—a change in pressure, flooding, fire and smoke, or combinations of these parameters? All of these questions would need to be answered. “An intelligent system would be needed, along with a decision-making protocol,” adds Davalos. No doubt, an ambitious project, he says, but researchers hope to have a working model within three years.

“We’re excited about these efforts,” says Paul Ragsdale, a science advisor with International Programs. “For the first time, we’re tapping S&T capabilities around the world to solve some of our biggest domestic security challenges.”

In addition to the tunnel projects, International Programs has provided a grant to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to work with the Mexican Navy, studying how acoustic sensors can be used to determine the intensity of hurricanes. The National Center for Food Protection and Defense (NCFPD), based at the University of Minnesota, has also received a grant. NCFPD will organize a large-scale, international training exercise to prepare for the possibility of a global outbreak of contaminated food.

International Programs has also begun accepting applications for a second round of grants, to be announced in 2008. Details are available at www.grants.gov.

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Radical Research

DHS scientists are working to understand terrorist intent and behavior, and how radicalization leads to violence.

Generally, it was blissfully quiet in the row houses on Forest Road in London’s gritty East End. In the cramped quarters of one apartment, however, even those living next door knew nothing of the terror being concocted within. With fanatical determination, the men living there were devising a plan to mix a sports drink with a gel to make an explosive that could be detonated using an MP3 player or cell phone. They were hell-bent on bringing a second September 11th aboard a dozen aircraft bound for different cities in the United States. Two wrote out martyrdom notes.

Then, in the days just before August 9, 2006, the plotters received a very short message: “Go now!”

Authorities moved in, and the London liquid bomb plot was thwarted. These questions became paramount: What makes an individual become fanatic and aggressive? What makes a group go from belief, to hostility, and lastly to violence?

Understanding terrorist intent and behavior, and how radicalization leads to violence, is a top priority for the DHS Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate’s Human Factors Division. For example, there are theories that victimization, political grievances, and joining radical groups lead individuals down the slippery slope of increasingly extreme behaviors. At the group level, some theories propose that isolation and perceived threats may heighten group radicalization. These are just a few of the many theories that must be tested against others in order to become useful to intelligence analysts.

“The bottom line is that we need to better understand the process of radicalization in order to thwart it early in the process,” says Sharla Rausch, the head of the Human Factors Division.

One effort aimed at doing this is a collaborative effort between four National Labs called the Group Violent Intent Modeling Project, which is managed by the Directorate’s Jennifer O’Connor. Drawing on the theories and data of the social and behavioral sciences, researchers use advanced modeling and simulation techniques to examine influences on future terrorist behavior. Ultimately, the project aims to provide intelligence analysts with tools that can help them estimate the likelihood of groups engaging in violence.

To support the project, the S&T Directorate will sponsor basic research focused on identifying the precursors and signatures of radicalization, the role of communities in moving groups toward or away from radicalization, and the impact of media on radicalization. Findings from these studies will expand and refine the models. “Our goal is not only to gain a better understanding of the process of radicalization,” says Allison Smith, Program Lead for Radicalization Research. “It is also to uncover valid behavioral indicators that a group is moving towards imminent violent activity.”

The importance of gaining insight into the motivations, beliefs, and behaviors of groups who aim to do us harm cannot be underestimated.

“Only known threats can be prevented,” says Rausch.

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Show Me the Light

Physicist Vladimir Rubtsov of Intelligent Optical Systems shows off the DHS-funded LED Incapacitator to interested customers during a recent DHS briefing.

Since Snapshots told you about the LED Incapacitator (“Enough to Make You Sick,” July 2007), the light has been winning over hearts and minds. In October, Time magazine named it one of the year’s top inventions … one of just two such inventions honored under the category of Law & Order. Then, just last month, DHS law enforcement officers convened in Washington to get their hands on the LED-I and describe for the developers the features, sizes, and controls they’d like to see. Commercial models are expected to hit the streets (and borders) in 2009.

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S&T Snapshots is a monthly newsletter produced by the DHS Science and Technology Directorate in partnership with the Homeland Security Institute. HSI is a Studies and Analysis Federally Funded Research and Development Center.