GIScience and Emergency Management
Geographic Information Science has proven its worth in numerous domestic emergencies ranging from a local fire to Hurricane Katrina. Nearly every county and municipality in the US has an Emergency 911 system which is a geographic information system optimized to route emergency assets to respond to incidents via the most efficient route. Digital cartography, remotely sensed imagery, and global positioning systems are all essential supporting technologies.
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) contends that GIS is the linchpin technology for emergency management that brings practioners together, reduces or removes data and organizational stovepipes, facilitates communications, and ultimately improves planning and response.
You will review several readings that highlight the contributions of geospatial technologies. As you read these works, do some critical thinking and ask yourself:
- What is the affiliation of the authors and what is their underlying agenda?
- When was the article written, and are there new developments and experiences that cast new light on the author's contentions?
- What experiences do you have that cause you to agree or disagree with the author's contentions?
- The authors typically extol the virtues and capabilities of geospatial techniques for solving all problems. What are the limitations of geospatial techniques in emergency preparedness and response, and how can we overcome them?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible for coordinating the federal response to disasters. Consider the following extract from the FEMA website (http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/) on their Mapping and Analysis Center.
FEMA Mapping and Analysis Center
GIS Developments at FEMA
GIS has been around FEMA for quite a while, but it was during and after Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, that its full potential began to emerge. Inspired by the avid use of this technology by the South Florida Water Management District, FEMA deployed its first GIS capability at the Miami DFO and worked closely with the State of Florida in using the technology to support that disaster.
In the aftermath of the Andrew "experience", GIS began to take a more cohesive shape within FEMA. FEMA began to use GIS based hurricane wind and earthquake damage estimation models. Using equipment returned from the Florida DFO, a small contactor staff of GIS technicians began to use GIS to support the Emergency Support Team (EST) with disaster maps.
In 1993, FEMA first used real-time flood extent information on GIS maps during the mid-west floods. In 1994, FEMA employed GIS during the California earthquakes.
It was soon after this that FEMA management recognized the need to further organize and structure the GIS support capabilities of the Agency. To this end, in 1994, FEMA formed the GIS Applications Branch in the Information Technology Services Directorate (ITSD).
Under the management of the ITSD GIS Applications Branch, the Mapping and Analysis Center (MAC) was designed and developed as a state-of-the-art GIS laboratory to support the EST and the Response and Recovery Directorate. In addition, MAC staff also developed complete sets of deployable GIS suites and put in place on-call GIS contract support to provide on-site GIS field support to DFOs. Over the last 8 years the MAC has grown in stature, effectiveness, and capabilities; providing combined GIS support at HQ and in the field to more than 150 disasters.
The MAC is now managed by an ITSD Enterprise GIS Team (E-GIS Team) located in the Information Technology Services Directorate, Systems Engineering and Development Division, GIS and Data Solutions Branch, and includes six full-time and two part-time contract support staff. In addition to managing a state-of-the-art GIS laboratory, the GIS staff engaged in GIS production and analysis for program offices throughout the Agency, including: the EST, the Readiness, Response and Recovery Directorate, the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, the Administration and Resource Planning Directorate, disaster field offices, the Office of National Preparedness and Homeland Security.
Under the direction of an Agency-wide GIS Working Group, the E-GIS Team and MAC staff are beginning the implementation plan phase of its Enterprise GIS effort; the Enterprise GIS is intended to integrate and enhance GIS within FEMA.
MAC staff are active participants in both the Federal Geographic Data Committee and the Open GIS Consortium, the seminal organizations for national and international GIS policy and standards.
The continuing goal is for FEMA to set the standard for GIS excellence in emergency management.
How FEMA Uses GIS In Disaster Response
Our primary mission remains the dissemination of geographic information to the EST/ESF#5 (Information and Planning), and the rest of the Agency during disaster operations, and the enhancement of information services. Our current concept of operations is expanding to include providing a full range of GIS services to all FEMA program offices. In addition, the MAC has become the cornerstone for developing and implementing an integrated, state-of-the-art enterprise GIS (E-GIS) for the Agency.
The MAC maintains an extensive array of data sets to ensure our ability to provide our customers with the information they need. (See Index of Available Data). The MAC can also produce maps from important model output, damage assessment data, as well as, maps and/or tables from FEMA Human Services, National Emergency Training Center (NETC), National Processing Service Center (NPSC), and Disaster Finance Center (DFC) statistics in federally-declared counties.
In addition to providing GIS maps, tables and analyses during disasters and emergencies, the E-GIS Team supports planning exercises, the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, the Office of National Preparedness, the Office of Homeland Security, the Administration and Resource Planning Directorate, as well as, the Agency's ad-hoc GIS requirements.
For emergency managers, a GIS can facilitate critical decision-making before a disaster impacts an area. In the early, crucial stages of a disaster or emergency and throughout the disaster process, managers use GIS products because they provide important information, such as described above, quickly and in easy-to-understand formats.
The specific products the MAC typically generates in a disaster or an emergency varies with the nature and scope of the situation and the needs of our customers.
Some of our most frequently requested maps include: storm track and damage prediction maps, remote sensing maps, maps of federally-declared counties in an affected state, basic census demographics about an affected area by county and census block, street locations, and summaries of teleregistered and service center applicants, housing inspection numbers, Helpline calls, disaster unemployment claims, Small Business Administration (SBA) applicants, etc.
Prior to making landfall, MAC staff can generate maps that depict the track of a hurricane or tropical storm. The E-GIS Team uses a hurricane wind model to develop estimates for projected damages in affected states or areas. The staff then maps these results. Typical model output maps include estimated wind damage to mobile homes, single family homes, and multi-family homes in affected areas along the track of the storm.
If the intensity of the storm is severe, MAC staff will produce wind damage estimates for other structures and infrastructure, such as: sewage treatment plants, nursing homes, schools, hospitals, etc.
In addition to mapping wind damage estimates to different structure types, MAC staff can perform various demographic analyses that estimate the population and housing units in affected counties or blockgroups.. The E-GIS Team generates maps of median housing values, median income and persons on public assistance by county and/or blockgroup. MAC GIS analysts can produce maps and tables with demographic data provided by the U.S. Census.
Similarly, the E-GIS Team can run an earthquake model to estimate damages in an affected area. In addition, Team staff are continually working with FIMA to upgrade and expand FEMA's use of models in disasters.
Soon after the disaster event, FEMA managers and staff use GIS to visualize actual damages by analyzing collected aerial reconnaissance and ground truth data. Using GIS, MAC customers (i.e. Disaster Field Office (DFO), Emergency Support Team (EST) personnel, etc.) can see the spatial extent of damage, learn who was affected by the disaster and which resources were affected. Management and staff can then use this data to distribute resources and coordinate with other federal and state agencies and organizations. Staff from the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) and other offices often use GIS produced EPA Super Fund Site and Repetitive Loss Claim Maps for information and planning purposes.
The E-GIS Team often receives requests for maps of congressional districts for federally designated counties in an area. Other common requests of GIS products include: maps of repetitive damages, river gauge data, or locations of Federal Disaster Recovery Centers. In addition, the MAC can map a wide range of facilities such as schools, hospitals, power plants, etc., in an affected area. MAC staff can also produce maps of toxic release inventory sites, bridges, dams, and other public safety locations.
Emergency managers and staff also use GIS maps and tables to perform or initiate a variety of other analyses, both general and specific, and for displays. In addition, FEMA staff uses GIS maps in training and exercise programs.
Remote Sensing Information and Data
During disaster response, the Mapping and Analysis Center (MAC) may receive remote sensing data that indicates areas affected by the disaster, as derived from various imagery products. Typical examples include flooded, saturated, and/or damaged areas. You will find maps that use this type of data on many of our map pages.
The MAC is permitted to share this remote sensing data with the public. The primary purpose for making this data available is so that various businesses with vested interests, such as insurance agencies, may apply it to their particular needs.
Please note that GIS software is required to use this data.
Our standard format for sharing this data is MapInfo Interchange Format (MIF). MIF data consists of two files, one with a .mif extension and one with a .mid extension. MIF data can be directly imported into MapInfo or converted into other GIS formats using translators readily available from other GIS software vendors.
Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) is a major provider of geographic information system software. ESRI employees are prolific writers of "white papers" on a wide range of subjects. Consider the following white paper on "GIS Supporting the Homeland Security Mission." Read this assignment closely as it plays a key role in the reflection paper assignment.
The advent of the internet has revolutionized how geospatial products are disseminated to users. Products such as Google Earth make remotely sensed data available to the masses, while services such as MapQuest make optimized route selection analysis available to the average motorists. Internet dissemination methods have enormous potential in making geospatial information rapidly available to government officials and first responders across jurisdictional lines. Consider the following short article by Jim Kiles:
Emergency Management, GIS, and the Internet
By Jim Kiles
As featured in the February 2004 issue of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Bulletin
Terrorist acts-as well as natural and manmade disasters-know no jurisdictional boundaries. To prepare for and coordinate effective responses and make decisions to protect lives and property, local governments must share current, accurate, and consistent geographic data with other agencies quickly and efficiently. Access to data encompassing multiple jurisdictions is critical to the nation's ability to prepare for and respond to disasters, large or small.
Government agencies are concentrating more than ever on ensuring that first responders-firefighters, police, and emergency medical units-are better prepared to cope with disasters. Their ability to respond can be hindered by a lack of location-based information. The stakes have never been higher for developing and maintaining this type of information using geographic information systems (GIS). Web-based GIS facilitates the sharing of data and supports timely and effective emergency management.
Internet + GIS = What local governments need.
A web-based GIS displays location-based information in a simple, easy-to-read graphical format. The display uses common standards for symbology, terminology, and accuracy to ensure that any responder, regardless of agency, can interpret and act upon the information in a crisis situation. In addition, a web-based GIS greatly reduces the need for redundant documents and databases by creating one repository that all agencies can use for storing location-based information. State and federal agencies benefit from local governments' (often more) accurate geographic data, and local governments can use the other agencies' broad, trend-based information.
The Internet vastly increases the value of GIS by providing the means and access for agencies to input, output, and analyze geographic data. Responding agencies no longer need to share the same physical space to share information. From virtually any location, emergency responders can provide and obtain needed information through a simple Internet connection. Advanced security measures embedded in the GIS application and website host make sharing data safe, and the increasing availability of broadband connections makes sharing data convenient. Volumes of maps and other information can be stored, maintained, and used by first responders, even in remote locations.
Manage real-time emergencies with real-time data.
Because a web-based GIS serves as a real-time (or near real-time) data repository, it can provide responding agencies with real-time incident area status reports. These reports can identify the locations of emergencies, predict their effects, and provide the status of field personnel and equipment.
Authorized users can obtain status reports and additional in-depth information through any Internet connection. So when emergencies do arise, responders can quickly access up-to-date information to quickly plan and carry out management efforts. Emergency response time (and often effort) is decreased because response activities are coordinated, not duplicated.
Emergency management comes full circle.
The Internet makes information more readily accessible and communication more convenient. Combining Internet technology with GIS data warehousing capabilities creates a valuable new tool for emergency planning, mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery.
- Risk Assessment and Planning:
Before any meaningful mitigation or preparation can occur, an analysis of the hazards, risks, and likelihood of an emergency must be made. A web enabled GIS shows field personnel how emergencies might affect critical resources, infrastructure, and populations, revealing additional problems caused by proximity to hazards that may not be obvious to the naked eye.
- Mitigation:
A web enabled GIS can monitor or verify mitigation activities-as systemic as community health monitoring or as targeted as identifying limited access to buildings-preventing disasters or minimize their effects.
- Preparedness:
Preparedness measures can take advantage of GIS to limit the loss of life and property and enhance response. Web enabled GIS deployed to first-responder teams provides vast amounts of information immediately from and to the field.
- Response:
The graphic presentation and data integration provided by web-based GIS enables responders to quickly make informed decisions. GIS users supported response efforts at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by coordinating the search for survivors, keeping rescuers supplied, and identifying hazardous areas in near real time.
- Recovery:
Returning all systems to normal or better requires two steps. Short-term recovery involves restoring and monitoring vital life support systems. Long-term recovery encompasses rebuilding the community. GIS can be used as a source of pre-event conditions to help communities and individuals qualify for aid and settle insurance claims. It also allows emergency managers to more accurately quantify activities to better recoup expenditures.In a world where quick action is key to saving lives, a web enabled GIS' ability to provide real-time (or near real-time) location-based information to everyone involved has proven invaluable.
Jim Kiles is a GIS/IT project manager for Woolpert LLP in Charlotte, N.C.