Title: Reduction techniques in modelling critical infrastructures under the infrastructure interdependencies simulator framework

Authors: Arvind Singh; Krishan D. Srivastava; Jose R. Marti

Addresses: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago ' The University of British Columbia, Room no. 3058, Kaiser Building, Vancouver Campus, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada ' The University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus, Room no. 3056, Kaiser Building, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

Abstract: Modern, urban population centres are comprised of highly interdependent networks of infrastructures. In normal operating conditions, these interdependencies can be neglected without much trouble, however, in times of emergency, these same interdependencies, often hidden, can debilitate relief efforts. The effects are often noted in disaster response post-mortems as poor distribution of resources and previously unseen vulnerabilities in the system. The infrastructure interdependencies simulator (I2Sim) was developed for the purpose of aiding decision makers in taking these interdependencies into account both in pre-planning and real time decision coordination. However, the number of infrastructures that require modelling can make simulations unwieldy. This paper presents methods for reducing the complexity of simulation by infrastructure aggregation. Statistical methods are outlined for defining the parameters of aggregated blocks and major issues encountered in the process of model reduction are outlined.

Keywords: infrastructure interdependencies; simulation; I2Sim; critical infrastructures; modelling; infrastructure aggregation; model reduction; emergency management; disaster management; emergency response; disaster response; emergency planning; urban population centres.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCIS.2013.054977

International Journal of Critical Infrastructures, 2013 Vol.9 No.3, pp.173 - 189

Received: 02 May 2012
Accepted: 30 Jul 2012
Published online: 28 Apr 2014 *

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