Catherine Zanbaka Nicolas

PMRFSim

The Pacific Missile Range Facility Simulator (PMRFSim) is the product of a computational social agent-based modeling research effort aimed at understanding PMRF-centric social dynamics. PMRFSim enables an analyst to define different scenarios and observe the resulting sentiment change and spread of Geo-Int throughout the Kauaian population.

PMRFSim uses real-world data (demographic information from the state of Hawaii and the U.S. Census Bureau, the PMRF security posture, Geo-Int data, and a region-specific sentiment analysis performed by a local sociologist) to create and model one agent per person on Kauai, yielding a population of approximately 60,000 agents. PMRFSim applies social interaction theory and social opinion dynamics to model the individual interactions in the heterogeneous Kauaian population.

Using various output visualizations, PMRFSim provides insights into the security policy and its effects on the local population’s perception of and interaction with PMRF. PMRFSim provides a computational social environment that enables the study of the following aspects of Base Protection:Social responses to Topic EventsAcquisition and dissemination of geographical intelligenceSpread of negative sentiment towards PMRF

PublicationsZanbaka, C., HandUber, J. and Saunders-Newton, D. 2009. Modeling and Simulating Community Sentiments and Interactions at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. To Appear in AAAI Fall Symposium 2009: Complex Adaptive Systems and the Threshold Effect: Views from the Natural and Social Sciences.