Katrina SGER: Data collection following Katrina: Interdependencies across time, space, and subsystems characterizing bulk energy transportation

海湾沿岸地区的卡特里娜飓风等灾难性事件不仅造成巨大的人命损失，而且对重要的国家基础设施造成破坏性影响。受影响地区的能源基础设施对美国能源系统的运行和性能具有根本重要性，该系统包括电力，水，煤炭和天然气的生产，运输，储存和转换。在卡特里娜飓风的破坏性影响被揭示后，全国范围内的能源价格几乎立即上涨，能源行业对未来几个月的能源供应和价格立即感到不确定。由于美国能源系统的巨大复杂性，由于不同基础设施之间存在复杂的相互依赖性和相互作用，以及由于与大宗能源生产、运输、转换相关的人类决策的复杂顺序，（发电）和综合能源行业的交付，在这一点上，卡特里娜飓风在经济效率和能源可用性方面将如何真正影响能源供应当然还不清楚。2美国能源系统由许多相互关联的能源子系统组成。原能源的三个主要子系统（煤、天然气和水）与电力有一个共同的特点，即它们可以通过运输网络从生产地大量运输到使用地。这些不同的运输网络是高度耦合的，这些耦合主要通过电力子系统发生。在正常运行条件下，系统的相互依赖性很难被注意到。当一个大的扰动冲击系统时，这些相互依赖性很可能会被揭示出来。收集此类事件的数据及其后验分析对于充分模拟能源系统的相互依赖性和动态具有很高的实用性，并且因此能够识别如果被破坏则可能对其他基础设施的性能产生不利影响的基本基础设施。一个高度相互关联和相互依赖的系统的压力运行条件将导致决策过程的正常行为发生变化。研究极端运行条件下的决策过程将有助于更好地了解影响系统参与者决策过程的社会和结构因素，从受影响地区的能源行业收集数据对于更好地了解灾难性事件对能源系统的影响至关重要，了解事件如何在地理上和时间上传播，并研究基础设施的相互依赖性。 获得这些知识也将非常有助于防止最有害的影响，提高对基础设施脆弱性的认识，并提高政府和行业在灾难性事件发生后的反应能力。此外，关于相互依赖的故障模式（级联、升级和共因故障）以及决策者之间的信息流的详细信息，就其本身的性质而言，可能是易逝的数据。因此，在信息仍然可用的情况下收集所有这些重要信息非常重要。我们通过本提案请求资金的项目的目标是在两个互补的方面收集数据，即基础设施相互依赖故障数据和极端条件下的决策过程。该研究项目打算收集的数据的一个重要部分是易腐数据，因此需要在不久的将来从实地收集。

Catastrophic events like hurricane Katrina in the Gulf-Coast area encompass not only a dramatic cost in terms of human lives, but also a devastating effect in critical national infrastructure. The energy infrastructure located in the affected zones has fundamental importance in terms of the operation and performance of the U.S. energy system, which comprises the production, transportation, storage, and conversion of electricity, water, coal, and gas.After the destructive effects of hurricane Katrina were revealed, there was an almost immediate nationwide increase in energy prices and an instant sense of uncertainty in the energy industry about energy availability and prices for the forthcoming months. Because of the enormous complexity of the U.S. energy system, because of the existence of complex interdependencies and interactions between the different infrastructures, and because of the complex sequence of human decision-making associated with bulk energy production, transportation, conversion (generation), and delivery in the integrated energy industry, it is certainly not clear at this point how the hurricane Katrina will really affect the energy supply in terms of economic efficiency and energy availability.The U.S. energy system is composed of many interrelated energy subsystems. Three major subsystems for raw energy (coal, gas, and water) share with electricity the common characteristic that they can be moved in bulk quantities via a transportation network from the source of their production to the site of their use. These different transportation networks are highly coupled, and it is mainly through the electricity subsystem that these couplings take place.System interdependencies are hard to notice under normal operating conditions. When a major perturbation strikes the system, these interdependencies are likely to be revealed. The collection of data of such events and its posterior analysis is of high utility to adequately model the interdependencies and dynamics of the energy system and so to recognize the essential infrastructure that, if disrupted, may adversely affect the performance of other infrastructures. Stressed operating conditions of a highly interconnected and interdependent system will result in a change in the normal behavior of the decision-making processes. The study of the decision-making processes under extreme operating conditions will help to gain better understandings of the social and structural factors affecting the decision-making processes of system participants.Data collection from energy industries operating in the affected zone is of extreme importance in order to obtain a better understanding of the impact of catastrophic events in the energy system, to appreciate how events propagate geographically and in time, and to study infrastructure interdependencies. Acquiring such knowledge will be also very helpful in order to help prevent the most harmful effects, raise awareness about infrastructure vulnerabilities, and to improve the government and industry reaction capacity in the aftermath of catastrophic events. Furthermore, details about interdependent failure modes (cascading, escalating, and common cause failures), and also about the information flows among the decision makers, are data that by their own nature may be perishable. Therefore, it is very important to collect all this vital information while the information is still available.The objective of the project for which we request funds through this proposal is data collection in two complementary fronts, infrastructure interdependence failure data and decision-making processes under extreme conditions. An important portion of the data that this research project intends to gather is perishable data, therefore there is need to collect it before long from the field.