The City of Boston Police Department (BPD) is undertaking Homeland Security initiatives that are critical to prevent, prepare for, respond and recover from terrorist events and those involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive weapons of mass destruction. A number of these initiatives relate to implementing and deploying GIS related technology to better understand and analyze situations within the Boston area.
A sub-contractor on this project, Weatherflow inc. is leading the design, installation, and continued maintenance of a mesonet (network) that collects high quality weather information in real-time. These data are to be utilized by city police react to “weather-induced (e.g., tropical system) or “weather-influenced (e.g., chemical spill plume movement) events in an optimum fashion such that death, injury, and/or loss of property are mitigated. The success of this project is highly related to an optimum siting strategy, an installation that meets the appropriate standards insuring high data quality, and a continued reliable, high quality real-time data feed.