TAB A – Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Glossary

This tab lists acronyms and abbreviations found in this report. Additionally, the Glossary provides definitions for selected technical terms that are not found in common usage.

Acronyms and Abbreviations

ATO air asking order
BDA bomb damage assessment
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
COAMPS Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System
DoD Department of Defense
   
FFCD full, final, and complete disclosure
FNE first noticeable effects
GPL general population limit
HPAC Hazard Prediction Assessment Capability
IDA Institute for Defense Analyses
   
kg kilogram
LCt50 median lethal dosage
MISREP mission report
mm millimeter
MSE Al Muthanna State Establishment
   
NBC nuclear, biological, and chemical
OMEGA Operational Multiscale Environment Model with Grid Adaptivity
OPREP Operational report
SCIPUFF Second-order Closure, Integrated Puff
SOF Special Operations Forces
   
TOT time on target
USACHPPM US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
UN United Nations
UNSCOM United Nations Special Commission (on Iraq)
VLSTRACK Vapor, Liquid, and Solid Tracking

 

 

Glossary

250-gauge bomb Iraq’s locally produced mustard bomb with a capacity of 60 liters.[66]

500-gauge bomb

Iraq’s mustard bomb with a capacity of 120 liters.[67]

Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS)

A weather prediction model for short term (up to 48 hours) forecasting.[68]

Cyclosarin


A nerve agent known as GF.
Chemical name: O-Cyclohexyl-methylfluorophosphonate.[69]


DB-2 bomb

A bomb with a capacity of 220 liters constructed of aluminum and produced locally by Iraq. Iraq filled this bomb with nerve agent.[70]

ECt50

Median effective dosage of an aerosol[71]

European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)

Among other objectives, the Centre collects and stores appropriate meteorological data.[72]

First noticeable effects

The dosage at which exposed personnel could reasonably be expected to demonstrate effects from a chemical warfare agent.[73]

GB

A G-series nerve agent known as sarin.
Chemical name: Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate.[74]
 
General population limit (GPL)

A toxic substance’s airborne exposure limit for a long-term general population exposure, expressed as an atmospheric concentration. The GPL represents the limit below which any member of the general population could be exposed (e.g., inhale) seven days a week, every week, for a lifetime, without experiencing any adverse health effects.[75]

GF

A G-series nerve agent known as cyclosarin.
Chemical name: O-Cyclohexyl-methylfluorophosphonate.[76]

Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS)

A synoptic (global) weather model that simulates the atmosphere and the interaction between the atmosphere, oceans, and land surfaces.[77]

HD

A blister agent known as distilled mustard.

Chemical name: Bis-(2-chloroethyl) sulfide.

First used during the later part of World War I, in its pure state mustard (H) is colorless and almost odorless. The name mustard comes from earlier methods of production that yielded an impure, mustard, or rotten-onion-smelling product

Distilled mustard (HD) was originally produced from H by a purification process of washing and vacuum distillation. HD is a colorless to amber-colored liquid with a garlic-like odor; it has less odor and a slightly greater blistering power than H and is more stable in storage. It is used as a delayed-action casualty agent, the duration of which depends upon the munitions used and the weather. HD is heavier than water, but small droplets will float on the water surface and present a hazard. Heavily splashed liquid mustard persists one to two days or more in concentrations that produce casualties of military significance under average weather conditions. It persists a week to months under very cold conditions. HD on soil remains effective for about two weeks. Persistency in running water is only a few days, while persistency in stagnant water can be several months

On all tissue surfaces it touches, mustard acts first as a cell irritant, then as a cell poison. Early symptoms include inflamed eyes; inflamed nose, throat, trachea, bronchi, and lung tissue; and redness of the skin. Blistering or ulceration is also likely to occur. Other effects may include vomiting and fever that begin around the same time as the skin starts to redden.

Eyes are very sensitive to mustard in low concentrations—skin damage requires a much higher concentration. Wet skin absorbs more mustard than does dry skin. For this reason, HD causes casualties at lower concentrations in hot, humid weather, because the body is moist with perspiration. HD has a very low detoxification rate; repeated exposures, therefore, are cumulative in the body.

Individuals can be protected from small mustard droplets or vapor by wearing protective masks and impermeable protective clothing. The use of impermeable clothing and masks can protect against large droplets, splashes, and smears.[78]


Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC)

A model capable of accurately predicting the effects of hazardous material releases into the atmosphere and their impact on civilian and military populations. The software uses integrated source characterization, high-resolution weather forecasts, and particulate transport to model hazard areas produced by any military, terrorist or industrial incidents/accidents.[79]

ICt50

Median incapacitating dosage of a chemical warfare agent vapor or aerosol.[80]

LCt50

Median lethal dosage of a chemical warfare agent vapor or aerosol.[81]

Mesoscale Model, Version 5 (MM5)

A National Center for Atmospheric Research weather model used to simulate or predict regional scale atmospheric circulation.[82]

Naval Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System (NOGAPS)

A medium-range weather forecasting model, the only global weather model DoD operates.[83]

Nerve agent

Nerve agents are organophosphate compounds. Nerve agents are normally divided into G-agents (fluorine- or cyanide-containing organophosphates) and V-agents (sulfur-containing organophosphates). The principal nerve agents are tabun (GA), sarin (GB), soman (GD), cyclosarin (GF), and VX

Nerve agents are all viscous liquids, not gases per se. However, the vapor pressures of the G-series nerve agents are sufficiently high for the vapors to be rapidly lethal. GB is so volatile that small droplets released from a shell exploding in the air may never reach the ground. This total volatilization means that GB is largely a vapor hazard.

G-agents are potent inhibitors of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, which is required for the function of many nerves and muscles. People poisoned by G-agents may display the following symptoms: difficulty breathing, drooling, excessive sweating, nausea, vomiting, cramps, twitching, jerking, staggering, headache, confusion, drowsiness, coma, and convulsions. The number and severity of the symptoms depend on the quantity and route of entry of the nerve agent into the body.

When a nerve agent is inhaled, a prominent symptom is the pinpointing of the pupils (miosis) and a dimness of vision. Nerve agents are cumulative poisons. Repeated exposure to low concentrations, if not too far apart, will produce symptoms.[84]


Operational Multiscale Environment model with Grid Adaptivity (OMEGA)

A mesoscale (regional) atmospheric simulation system for advanced, high-resolution weather forecasting. It has the ability to resolve surface terrain down to 1 kilometer and the local perturbations of the wind field.[85]

Sarin

A nerve agent known as GB.
Chemical name: Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate.[86]

Scud

Liquid fueled, short-ranged ballistic missile with a crude guidance system.[87]

Source characteristics

Defines the quantity and characteristics of the possible chemical warfare agent release, including such technical details as the amount of agent in a weapon, the total amount of agent released as a vapor or liquid, the purity of the agent, and how quickly it was released. It also identifies the date and time of release. Also called source terms.

Vapor Liquid Solid Tracking (VLSTRACK)

A chemical and biological hazard assessment model that simulates the release and downwind hazard from a chemical or biological warfare attack.[88]

Z Time

A military term for Greenwich (England) Mean Time, five hours later than Eastern Standard Time and three hours earlier than local time in Iraq. Z time is always the same worldwide.[89] Military operations are normally coordinated in Z time.

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