PrintGeographic Information Science has proven its worth in numerous domestic emergencies, ranging from fires in California, Canada and Maui to Hurricanes Katrina, Maria and Harvey 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.
Ask Yourself
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 authors' 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?
As related by Tomaszewski, in his 2020 book Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Disaster Management 2nd Edition, GIS plays an active role in each phase of the disaster cycle, from planning and preparedness, to response, to recovery, to mitigation. Per Tomaszewski, "Regardless of how GIS is utilized, one theme that emerges from any use of GIS within any disaster cycle phase, that GIS serves an information management role within disaster management activities" (p. 114).
Required Reading
Chapter 1: A Survey of GIS for Disaster Management in Tomaszewski’s 2020 textbook Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Disaster Management, 2nd Edition.
The reading can be accessed from the Lesson 8 Checklist. Registered students can access a PDF of the reading in Lesson 8 in Canvas. This resource is useful for your second paper.
Geospatial technologies have also been critical in responding to international disasters such as the Haitian Earthquake and the Japanese Tsunami and subsequent nuclear catastrophes. Review Episode One, Chapter Four of the Geospatial Revolution Series for a powerful example.
Video: Geospatial Revolution / Episode One, Chapter Four: Why We Need It (5:18)
Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) contends that GIS is the linchpin technology for emergency management that brings practitioners together, reduces or removes data and organizational stovepipes, facilitates communications, and ultimately improves planning and response.
Required Reading
Explore the ESRI emergency management website: Emergency and Disaster Management. The reading can be accessed from the Lesson 8 Checklist. This resource can help you with your second paper.
As learned in the previous section regarding GeoCONOPS, geospatial technology and products play key roles in the preparation for and response to disasters. One online resource for public and government agencies that provides geospatial tools and data is the GeoPlatform. Through GeoPlatform, users have access to:
- a one-stop shop to deliver trusted, nationally consistent data and services;
- authoritative data to support informed decision-making;
- problem-solving applications and services that are built once and can be used many times across multiple Federal agencies and other organizations;
- a shared infrastructure to host data and applications;
- a national and Federal focal point where governmental, academic, private, and public data and applications can be visualized together to inform and address national and regional issues.
Additional information can be found at GeoPlatform.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible for coordinating the federal response to disasters. A geospatial tool provided by FEMA for disaster mitigation and response is HAZUS. See the below block for additional information regarding HAZUS.
Hazus is a nationally applicable standardized methodology that contains models for estimating potential losses from earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes. Hazus uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to estimate physical, economic and social impacts of disasters. It graphically illustrates the limits of identified high-risk locations due to earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. Users can then visualize the spatial relationships between populations and other more permanently fixed geographic assets or resources for the specific hazard being modeled, a crucial function in the pre-disaster planning process.
Hazus is used for mitigation and recovery, as well as preparedness and response. Government planners, GIS specialists and emergency managers use Hazus to determine losses and the most beneficial mitigation approaches to take to minimize them. Hazus can be used in the assessment step in the mitigation planning process, which is the foundation for a community's long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction and repeated damage. Being ready will aid in recovery after a natural disaster.
Consider the following paper on "GIS: a common operational picture for public safety and emergency management." Read this assignment closely as it plays a key role in the reflection paper assignment.
Required Reading
Read the paper on "GIS: a common operational picture for public safety and emergency management." The reading can be accessed off of the Lesson 8 Checklist page. Registered students can access a PDF of the reading in Lesson 8 in Canvas.
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 apps such as Google Maps make optimized route selection analysis available to average motorists. Internet dissemination methods have enormous potential in making geospatial information rapidly available to government officials and first responders across jurisdictional lines.