GIS.org.nz

Came across this article about the increasing adoption of GeoPDF for distributing maps amongst the US military and intelligence community. The map is store in a pdf, and the client installs an Adobe toolbar to provide more mapping functions within the Adobe Reader - the plugin is called GeoPDFToolbar. The software is produced by TerroGo Technologies.

The Intergovernmental Committee on Survey and Mapping have released a report covering these key tasks.

Task 1 - Conducting an audit of key agencies involved in emergency management and response to compile a nationally consistent Incident Management System (IMS) symbology resource catalogue.

Task 2 - Conducting an audit to define the major categories of symbols for all-hazards used or required by Emergency Managers and response personnel and develop documentation outlining which categories of symbols are relevant to different types of organisations and events, gaps in existing categories and priority areas for additional work.

The report is available from this page.

The draft document can be downloaded here (pdf). This is version 1.07 dated 20070226.

I am pleased to be the conduit for the draft guidelines that have been developed over the past couple of years. They represent the sterling efforts of a few committed people who are passionate about the potential that lies within this area. I need to mention John Gibson from Greater Wellington Regional Council in this regard, because he has been the backbone and coordinator behind this effort.

Home page for the GIS for Emergency Management Guideline for GIS Users.

More to be added...

I've received links to a couple of interesting pages from Karl that provide what appear to be some useful pages for those interest in utilising GIS in emergency management.

Geospatial Task Group (GTG) - This is a coordinated point of contact dedicated to providing high-quality information and expertise on the use of geospatial data, standard, applications, and processes in support of interagency wildland fire management.

Geographic Information Systems Specialist for Incident Management, S-341 GISS CD Reference - This CDROM contains instructional materials and reference materials for GIS Specialist for ICS training. All materials are in the public domain and may be freely copied, any errors are unintentional.

NWCG Geographic Information System (GIS) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) - The NWCG Geographic Information System (GIS) Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Incidents Project (GSTOP) is responsible for clarifying the GIS business needs and functional standards for incidents. SOPs were developed for the work performed to fulfill the GIS needs of the Planning Sections of the Incident Management Teams. The project focuses on the GIS needs of wildland fire incident management, including wildland fire use. While the SOPs produced by this project may be useful for other types of events, such as all-risk incidents, the development of SOPs for these types of incidents is beyond the scope of this project.

Another example of Google Maps mashups - this time a hurricane tracking application. Now that Google Maps has released more detailed data for New Zealand, hopefully we'll see more of these maps locally.

I've also just uploaded the GIS in emergency management survey that was undertaken by a number of people last year, and compiled by John Gibson and Helen Grant from Greater Wellington.

This report presents the results of a survey carried out to review current use of geographic information systems (GIS) in emergency management in New Zealand, and to gauge interest in best practice guidelines being developed.

The report can be downloaded in pdf format here.

I've just added summary notes of the Workshop that was held in Auckland in March 2006 to discuss potential development of guidelines for the use of GIS in Emergency Management. These can be downloaded in pdf format from here.

The USGS has made available a tour of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake via Google Earth. As well as being informative, this shows how modern networked technology such as Google Earth can be used to communicate both historical and hazard information to the public. Now we just need better imagery of New Zealand, and agencies prepared to publish public information in this manner.

The Open Geospatial Consortium has made available on the website
outlining the new interoperability standards that are being
developed, and shows how they could work in an Emergency Management
context. Some of the key aspects covered include Rights Management
and access to a variety of different sources of spatial information,
including spatial-aware sensors connected to the Internet. For more
information, see the OGC Web Services Phase 3 Initiative.