ORNL Technology Family – Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically On Earth (VERDE)

- Energy Awareness Resiliency Standardized Services (EARSS)

- Mission Planning Space Time Insight (STI)

Background

During times of threat to US critical infrastructure Oak Ridge activates to provide data, analysis, and situation visualization across a wide spectrum of missions. ORNL has integrated a suite of web streaming services as a national visualization Common Operational Picture (COP) capability, -- VERDE (Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth), to provide real time -wide-area situational awareness of the status of the electric grid, both in US and internationally. The development history is below.

VERDE’s novel approach of leveraging the commercial Google Earth® browser to display spatially and temporally tagged power system data has given traditional power utilities a new lens with which to view their system status. Output layers from VERDE analysis and modeling components, the standard Google Earth layers, and external system feeds provide further valuable spatial context, creating a dramatically more informative system view.

The nationally significant technical breakthrough represented by the VERDE software provides both current status data on the infrastructure and forecast disruption models on a common platform. It is not either situational awareness or look-ahead models, it is integrating both using the current state to reinitiate forecasts for response planning and decision making.

Deployments

Beyond just the condition of assets and raw reporting, VERDE provides predictive analytics and forecast results on a rapid refresh cycle that allows the models to inform activated responders.

Inputs/Outputs/Data Sources

More than 54 foundational and streaming data sources are integrated onto a common canvas equally in KML, WMS, WFS, and REST formats. General categories of input are Foundational data sets of the physical infrastructures across the 18 Sectors of Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources. Weather, threat information, and status of infrastructure services are streamed and updated. Social media feeds supplement measured data. Models and anticipatory forecasts are initiated by the incoming data and these look aheads can be added to current situation to inform command decisions.

Future Unfulfilled Requirements

The wide deployment of the VERDE Suite allows fertile user feedback on new products useful to their mission. To summarize, most requirements address the question of when power is restored to:

  • Communication – Cell towers and Data Centers -to match more accurately the impact time frames or duration and necessary support needs.
  • DHS - General population safety and welfare updates of restoration of services and time frames.
  • Banking and Finance - Enhanced estimates of restoration times for businesses planning employee safety and welfare, production and overall operational impacts.
  • HHS - Shelters - Elderly and special needs care response and support.
  • EPA – Restoration of power to waste water treatment and fire flow services

During hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and floods the VERDE estimates of when power comes back on are the only reliable estimates for FEMA and power grid restoration personnel. Today, these modules rely on past experience of how many crews are used and how they prioritize their work. The component needed to provide valuable situational awareness is location related information in near real-time. VERDE personnel will be able to see at a glance which restoration crews are in-route versus on site. All mobile assets and resources can be displayed on one map showing fully integrated restoration efforts.