Simulating Interdependent Infrastructure Vulnerability to Extreme Weather Events

The objective of the research was to simulate interdependencies between municipal water-power distribution systems in a theoretical section of the Phoenix urban environment that had variable population density and highest ambient temperature. Real-time simulations were run using the Resilient Infrastructure Simulation Environment (RISE) software developed by Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions (LEAPS) at ASU. The simulations were run at estimated population density to simulate urbanism, and temperature conditions to simulate increased urban heat island effect of Phoenix at 2020, 2040, 2060, and 2080 using the IEEE 13 bus test case were developed. The water model was simulated by extrapolated projections of increased population from the city of Phoenix census data. The goal of the simulations was that they could be used to observe the critical combination of system factors that lead to cascading failures and overloads across the interconnected system. Furthermore, a Resilient Infrastructure Simulation Environment (RISE) user manual was developed and contains an introduction to RISE and how it works, 2 chapters detailing the components of power and water systems, respectively, and a final section describing the RISE GUI as a user. The user manual allows prospective users, such as utility operators or other stakeholders, to familiarize themselves with both systems and explore consequences of altering system properties in RISE by themselves. Parts of the RISE User Manual were used in the online "help" guide on the RISE webpage.