IMIS (Integrated Measurement and Information System) - the German integrated radioactivity information and decision support system

IMIS is being set up as part of the German Government's National Response Plan for dealing with the consequences of a large scale radioactive contamination of the environment. The IMIS system has three operational action levels. Level 3 covers the collection of radiological data from state-of-the-art monitoring networks and measurement laboratories. Level 2 involves computerised data processing and quality control, based on standardised procedures for the collection and presentation of measurements. This level also includes the use of transport and dose assessment models. Level 1 includes evaluation of the data, management of the consequences of a given situation, legal enforcement of protective measures and provision of information to the public. In its final form the IMIS system will consist of a total of 75 RISC computers linked together by an efficient packet-switched Wide Area Network. Owing to various demands of the individual users, three different types of RISC computers are used. The system software includes ULTRIX, TCP/IP and X windows. The relational database management system ORACLE is used together with the query language SQL-Plus. Statistical analyses are carried out with the standard product SAS. The geographical information system TERRA provides all the tools necessary for a detailed geographic presentation of the data. (author)