12:00:58 PM Amy Sebring:On behalf of the EIIP, I am pleased to welcome you to a special event in our Tech Arena. Our topic today is "Spatial Data and GIS in the EM Lifecycle" 12:01:07 PM Amy Sebring:Please hold all questions and comments until we get to the Q&A portion of the program about half past the hour. We will review the instructions at that time. 12:01:17 PM Amy Sebring:I will also point out for any newcomers that when a full URL is typed in the message area, it becomes a hot link, so you can just click on it, and a webpage will display in another browser window. 12:01:29 PM Amy Sebring:And now, it is my pleasure to introduce Mark Whitney, Geographer with FEMA HQ Mitigation Directorate ... 12:01:41 PM Amy Sebring:Mark has extensive experience using GIS for emergency management purposes, especially in analyzing repetitive flood losses. 12:01:49 PM Amy Sebring:Welcome Mark and thank you for taking time to be with us today. 12:01:52 PM mark whitney:Hello everyone and thanks for the invite to be hear today. I need to just open with a statement about how anything I say might be dangerous and therefore should not be construed as "official" FEMA policy, or practice, and does not touch on many of the Geographic Information System (GIS) activities underway at FEMA now or in the past. 12:02:05 PM mark whitney:Still, I hope this presentation will be of interest and perhaps contribute to ideas that will encourage the development of this and related technology in Emergency Management. I believe that GIS over the coming years will become a prime tool in revolutionizing the way we as a group do business. 12:02:17 PM mark whitney:I'll start with a "current events" GIS example... Hurricane Georges. How much has the National Flood Insurance Program paid in communities near where he came ashore? 12:02:31 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://www.mitigation.org/emforum/nfipdollars.gif 12:03:27 PM mark whitney:And, where are the historical problem areas for repetitive flood losses? How do they relate to the rainfall from this event? 12:03:37 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://www.mitigation.org/emforum/georgesrainfallrlproperties929.gif 12:04:43 PM mark whitney:Of course, all of the data in this and the last image is linked to detailed attribute data: address, owner, policy number,# of payments, dollars paid, coverage amounts, dates of losses, Base Flood Elevations (BFE).... 12:05:06 PM mark whitney:The Federal Insurance Administration (FIA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)was very lucky with Georges. Though the losses are large and individually devastating, they could have been on order of magnitude larger and more devastating if the track had run into New Orleans with more force. 12:05:17 PM mark whitney:GIS can/is also be used to model different hazard events to quantify the potential hazard and exposure to same. HAZUS is a FEMA product that performs earthquake loss estimates. Wind and flood components are next. 12:05:27 PM mark whitney:Now for a light-hearted metaphysical/hazards analysis using GIS: Did you ever wonder about why the Higher Power(s) felt the need to distribute hazards in a "fair way?" 12:05:35 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://www.mitigation.org/emforum/eqhail.gif 12:06:25 PM Amy Sebring:(this is a very large image, we will pause a bit here to load) 12:07:41 PM mark whitney:The distribution of earthquake fault lines and 40 years of hailstorms for the lower 48. Western US, Appalachia, you take EQ; everyone in between you get hailstorms (and incidentally tornadoes, makes you wonder what the New Madrid area did to deserve all three). 12:08:10 PM mark whitney:In all seriousness, GIS is a great tool for organizing, analyzing, and visualizing the Who, What, When, Why, and WHERE of practically everything we have, do and experience. This same data/analysis can serve the entire EM lifecyle through a process of updates and improvements of relevant data shared between the phases. 12:08:20 PM mark whitney:The WHERE can be considered a spatial index of sorts. I can't think of a single thing that has to do with Emergency Management that somehow does not have a "WHERE" associated with it. 12:08:36 PM mark whitney:New tools as well. Did you notice the yellow track heading across the US in the last slide. That was me with a little $170 Global Positioning System (GPS) unit on the dash of my truck as I drove home to Utah for vacation. (Thankfully no hail/EQ to speak of, just one small funnel cloud). 12:08:47 PM mark whitney:Disaster planners, workers, other city officials such as police and fire, will in the future use such gizmos to collect all sorts of data that will be fed real-time into computers for analysis and product preparation by a GIS. The products of the future will not be limited to just paper maps either. 12:09:03 PM mark whitney:Field units/inspectors... will/some do already be able to receive track data(for routing on their GPS), images, and database attribute information directly in the field to help them organize and perform their functions better/cheaper/faster (to borrow a phrase from the Spin Machine). 12:09:11 PM mark whitney:And of course, out of all of this some sort of standards will have to be developed so that the information used in all phases of the EM Lifecycle can be shared back and forth between cooperating Local, State, National, and International entities. 12:09:20 PM mark whitney:Not nearly so high tech as that dream world scenario, here is an example of data collected by a team on the ground for purposes of identifying potential substantially damaged structures for East Grand Forks. 12:09:34 PM mark whitney:Using GIS and phone book data we very quickly were able to estimate the number of residences in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) for Grand Forks, and also the approximate number of structures on the "wet" side of two proposed levee alignments for both communities. 12:09:43 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://users.aol.com/mwhitney1/gf4.gif 12:11:00 PM mark whitney:Information as a basis for planning and implementation of recovery and mitigation activities. The same information then recycled and reused for preparedness and response, back to recovery/mitigation... all digital. (What a concept.) 12:11:11 PM mark whitney:The ground teams collected similar data for all affected communities along the Minnesota and Red Rivers on the Minnesota side (Region V). This information was used to produce spatial data empowered web pages, and other reports used by the Local floodplain management personnel, State and theFEMA Region. 12:11:19 PM mark whitney:In the beginning there was light... and Dan Cotter (my first boss at FEMA). 12:11:30 PM mark whitney:Dan led the way in convincing the Federal Insurance Administration (FIA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)to modernize flood hazard mapping (a work still in progress). The NFIP is FEMA's only regulatory program and is the cornerstone of flood hazard mitigation in the USA. 12:11:40 PM mark whitney:Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) are the basis for regulating floodplains in more than 18,000 communities in the US. Identification and mapping of the 1% annual chance exceedence flood Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) (and 0.2% "500 Year Flood")\ 12:11:51 PM mark whitney:Local community ordinances using the FIRM make the community eligible to participate in the NFIP making flood insurance available to residences, businesses, and public buildings. 12:11:59 PM mark whitney:The first FEMA GIS applications were related to making this FIRM data available and much more useful via GIS. Contractors: Michael Baker Jr., Dewberry & Davis (Harvard Design and Mapping (HDM) for quality assurance) using ESRI ArcInfo and Intergraph MGE to digitize the paper FIRMs. 12:12:07 PM mark whitney:Process to convert 80,000 paper Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) began in 1989. Digital FIRM (DFIRM) benefits were to include: 12:12:37 PM mark whitney:Automation of FIRM creation and distribution; Automated methods for flood insurance policy FIRM zone verification/lookup (a completed GIS lookup utility combined the DFIRM and Census Tiger Street Data this and development of Flood RIsk Directories (FRID) were both stopped by U.S. Congress); 12:12:51 PM mark whitney:NFIP marketing studies; Disaster applications/lookups; Floodplain Management applications; Automated tool for planning, preparedness, response (evacuations...), recovery, mitigation. 12:13:05 PM mark whitney:DFIRM Program made slow and expensive progress through 1993 before changing to Q3 for a quickly produced (at the expense of some quality/completeness, no BFEs) baseline product as a result of immediate disaster needs (1/10th the cost to produce). The Q3 is a completed for nearly 1,300 counties, the VI and PR. 12:13:15 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://users.aol.com/hazardsnfp/q3all.jpg 12:15:05 PM mark whitney:Q3 - National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) 12:15:15 PM mark whitney:Important Notes: a. You will need a geographic information system or desktop mapping system with several base cartographic data themes (transportation, hydrography...) in order to make use of the Q3 data. 12:15:24 PM mark whitney:b. There are several important considerations related to the spatial accuracy of the Q3 data and the intended usage of this flood hazard spatial information product discussed in Q3 related documentation. The FEMA Map Service Center 12:15:45 PM mark whitney:Homepage includes links to this information. (www.fema.gov/msc) 12:15:55 PM mark whitney:In short, the Q3 is a baseline digital product that has been produced for more than 1200 counties and independent cities. Included in the Q3 file are FIRM 1% and 0.2% annual chance flood hazard boundaries, COBRA zones, some floodways, political boundaries, FIRM panel neatlines, and 1:24,000 quad panel neatlines. 12:16:07 PM mark whitney:Q3 data are on CD-ROM in three vector data formats: USGS-DLG3, MapInfo .TAB,and ArcInfo Export .E00. Each Q3 file is county-wide. Again, detailed information and sample data can be found on the FEMA Map Service Center Homepage, www.fema.gov/msc. 12:16:20 PM mark whitney:One cool advantage of having GIS/digital flood hazard data is being able to display the flood hazard in a way that might heighten awareness of the flood hazard theme for the general public. California seems to be half under water at 1% 0.2% flood levels! 12:16:31 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://users.aol.com/hazardsnfp/caflood.gif 12:17:15 PM mark whitney:GIS and the Web are starting to mature into very promising for our trade. 12:17:26 PM mark whitney:GIS for the National Flood Insurance Program beyond making digital flood map products, has involved some market penetration/marketing work, but also a large focus has on historical/repetitive loss analysis/issues. Most of this type of activity can be performed at the local level with a side benefit of credit for the Community Rating System (CRS). 12:17:36 PM mark whitney:GIS allows for the visualization of large databases, related to themes such as flood hazard areas, to explore mitigation strategies and solutions to flooding problems. This same type of analysis can form the foundation upon which local and state mitigation plans are created/modified. 12:17:46 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://www.mitigation.org/emforum/neworleansrl.gif 12:18:15 PM mark whitney:I guess I should say a few things about Hurricane Fran. Too much work, too little time. These larger disasters can be so challenging for a GIS implementation. What kind of products do people need? Where to find quality data? How bout skilled technicians to push the buttons? Hardware issues, contract issues...... 12:18:29 PM mark whitney:Hundreds of products, thousands of copies... One of my favorites was using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (RadarSat of Canada) to collect the flood extent four days following Fran's wet and rude landfall. EarthSat Corporation did a great job of processing the data and capturing vectors for more than 25,000 square miles. 12:18:37 PM mark whitney:This data was combined with Q3 FIRM data to select residences from the geocoded phonebook data (more than a million records) who were in either the SFHA (100 year flood zone) or the SAR flood extent (FRANFLOOD). 12:18:55 PM mark whitney:These listings were then related to geocoded FEMA Teleregistration Center data (disaster victims call the Center for register for disaster assistance). We could then go over problem areas with the FEMA Community Relations Teams (Outreach) to find areas where folks had a high likelihood of being affected by flooding, yet still had not called FEMA for help for one reason or another. 12:19:02 PM mark whitney:SLIDE: http://www.mitigation.org/emforum/franfloodkinstonoutreach.gif 12:20:22 PM mark whitney:The Outreach teams could then, armed with maps, listings of names, addresses, and phone numbers ordered by street as you traveled down the floodplain, conduct outreach in a more effective and targeted manner. We also could provide the religious/social organizations in or near these flooded areas for the Outreach teams to contact. It was a great success. 12:20:42 PM mark whitney:Hurricane Fran, like most disasters, was a dynamic and highly charged environment. We coordinated data issues with Local governments and the State. Of all the issues that came up, the shortage of skilled and motivated GIS operators was the most significant. 12:20:52 PM mark whitney:Give Me Skilled, Experienced, and Motivated GIS Powered Technicians OR Give Me ??? (and give me some data standards) This is to my mind still the greatest challenge to implementation of spatial data technologies in a cost effective/efficient manner. 12:21:01 PM mark whitney:I list the data standards almost as an afterthought, while they are important, the people are the real difference. You can have the greatest hardware, software, cleanest most robust data... without the people... nada. 12:21:14 PM mark whitney:I can say that as a group, I have always enjoyed working with geo-nerds. They will usually bend over backwards to help you out to get what you need. We just need more of them and a career track to keep them. The same issue is at all levels of government/private sector as the technology matures. 12:21:35 PM mark whitney:The future of GIS for all will be much more Internet centered. Much more information will be readily available to many more people. It is an exciting prospect and the expense for getting from here to there keeps falling...?? 12:21:48 PM mark whitney:I'll close with a URL to my favorite NASA image that you can look at when you have time, Hurricane Andrew as it made it's way into Louisiana. http://users.aol.com/hazardsnfp/andyred.jpg Check out the shadow in the eye.... 12:22:14 PM mark whitney:Thanks very much for your attention and I'll turn it back over to Amy. 12:22:39 PM Amy Sebring:Thank you Mark ... 12:22:50 PM Amy Sebring:We would like to take a moment here to review how we will handle the Q&A so that we have an orderly session. 12:23:02 PM Amy Sebring:We ask that you indicate that you have a question by typing just a question mark (?). 12:23:03 PM mark whitney:Orderly, why? 12:23:12 PM Amy Sebring:Then you can prepare your question, but PLEASE HOLD (don't hit end or send) your question until you are recognized. 12:23:21 PM Amy Sebring:If we run out of time, you will have a chance to ask afterward in the follow up session in the Virtual Forum. 12:23:35 PM Amy Sebring:Ok, first question from the floor? 12:23:48 PM cindy rice:? 12:23:54 PM Amy Sebring:Ok, Cindy 12:24:11 PM cindy rice:Mark, you mentioned standards for GIS but currently FEMA FEMAand others 12:24:47 PM cindy rice:are using several GISs(MapInfo,Arcview, Nemis, FEMIS, GEMS, etc 12:25:04 PM cindy rice:How do you see that clearing up in the future or standardizing? 12:26:01 PM mark whitney:It's the data that counts. Use whatever app gets your specific job done best, have data that can be used by all. PS> FEMA's desktop GIS standard is currently MapInfo 12:26:37 PM cindy rice:? 12:26:46 PM Amy Sebring:Do you have a follow up 12:26:51 PM Amy Sebring:Cindy? 12:26:52 PM cindy rice:Data as in the background 12:27:08 PM mark whitney:Data is the food for any GIS. 12:27:10 PM cindy rice:database enegine or data as in generic file formats? 12:27:41 PM mark whitney:Data standards. 12:27:57 PM Amy Sebring:Mike perhaps you can clarify some of the types of standards... 12:28:03 PM mark whitney:If you have data standards that are .. 12:28:15 PM Amy Sebring:one we have talked about is a commonly used symbology. 12:28:31 PM Amy Sebring:(sorry I meant Mark!) 12:28:44 PM mark whitney:public domain they can be translated into any file format or used with any database engine/GIS. 12:29:14 PM cindy rice:? 12:29:46 PM Amy Sebring:Ok, Cindy- then lets give others a chance. 12:29:52 PM cindy rice:Does FEMA have a ""Red book"" for what they consider to be standard for GIS and database usage? 12:30:16 PM mark whitney:Only for flood data. 12:30:58 PM Amy Sebring:Mark, can you tell us a little something about your's or FEMA's involvement with the FGDC ... 12:31:18 PM Amy Sebring:Federal Geograhic Data Committee (did I get that right?) 12:31:48 PM mark whitney:I hope that the FEMA IT folks, are in charge of FEMA GIS, will create some standards for other hazards and for EM operational types of data themes. 12:31:53 PM Neil Blais:? 12:31:59 PM Amy Sebring:Do you think they will be addressing a range of standardizatio issues? 12:32:36 PM mark whitney:I do not know at this point. There are internal FEMA issues that I really can not get into in a public place. Sorry. 12:33:34 PM Ann Willis:? 12:33:55 PM mark whitney:FGDC, and Amy you got the correct name, is a group that deals with data standards in the broader Fed. community. 12:34:14 PM mark whitney:At this point they do not have a focus on hazards data. I sit on the 12:34:30 PM mark whitney:Base Carto Subcommittee. .. 12:34:57 PM mark whitney:We have put out a Spatial Data Transfer Standard, and the Metadata standard. 12:35:20 PM Amy Sebring:Neil please. 12:35:31 PM Neil Blais:The Red Book for flood data; does that address damage data, flood extent, other assistance (IA, PA), or FIP data? 12:35:45 PM mark whitney:No. 12:37:05 PM mark whitney:Those are the types of standards that need to be developed and implemented. 12:37:17 PM Amy Sebring:Ann please. 12:37:20 PM Ann Willis:Do you have a plan for updating and maintaining the database, now that you have created it? 12:37:42 PM mark whitney:Which database? 12:38:04 PM Ann Willis:The flood information DB 12:38:33 PM mark whitney:There are dozens of them. The flood hazard data is being updated slowly. There is now a Map Modernization Initiative that 12:38:50 PM mark whitney:will update them faster in the future. 12:39:02 PM mark whitney:It is an expensive process though.... 12:39:24 PM mark whitney:like everything in DC it is tied to the budget. 12:39:51 PM Amy Sebring:I have a question... 12:40:11 PM Amy Sebring:have you seen GPS being used for the damage assessment process? 12:40:32 PM Amy Sebring:This seems to be a very likely candidate application to me. 12:40:44 PM mark whitney:Yes. We started using it for that purpose in the 93 Midwest floods.... 12:40:59 PM mark whitney:and have used it many times since then. I should clarify... 12:41:38 PM mark whitney:that Mitigation has been the largest user of GPS but a couple.. 12:41:51 PM mark whitney:of years ago for the Kentucky floods.. 12:42:12 PM mark whitney:Infrastructure had me by them 90 handheld units to obtain.... 12:42:22 PM Avagene Moore:? 12:42:27 PM mark whitney:xy coords for their Damage Survey Reports. 12:43:01 PM Amy Sebring:Avagene please. 12:43:05 PM Avagene Moore:Mark, what do you see in the future for this field as far as professional development and career choice? 12:43:25 PM mark whitney:Related to Emergency Management... 12:43:50 PM mark whitney:I think that the technology will start to be implemented more and more... 12:43:56 PM mark whitney:mostly using the Internet... 12:44:21 PM mark whitney:the GIS field in general has lots of jobs around the country and world... 12:44:51 PM mark whitney:but most of them are in Business Geographics, Natural Resources... 12:45:02 PM mark whitney:Transportation, Engineering... 12:45:18 PM mark whitney:EM is a bit behind the curve. 12:45:47 PM mark whitney:My opinion of course, could be totally wrong.... 12:46:02 PM mark whitney:there are several good resources for GIS jobs on the internet. 12:46:03 PM Avagene Moore:? 12:46:13 PM Amy Sebring:Mark, I find delivery of maps over the Internet rather clunky so far, any developments coming down the pike? 12:46:25 PM Amy Sebring:(sorry Ava, you next) 12:46:46 PM mark whitney:Yes. USGS and the military have developed some pretty cool compression... 12:47:26 PM mark whitney:technologies that allow for a viewer to see the data without downloading it first... 12:48:01 PM mark whitney:uncompressing it, then viewing it. You can view large image files directly from whatever media... 12:48:14 PM mark whitney:you are using, CDs.... 12:48:26 PM mark whitney:Again the internet has some interesting sites... 12:48:39 PM mark whitney:that are using this sort of tech. online.... 12:48:56 PM mark whitney:check out Microsoft's TerraServer... 12:49:17 PM mark whitney:They and the USGS have put up images of much of the US and parts of the world... 12:49:35 PM mark whitney:you can zoom into a high nice level of detail. 12:49:53 PM Amy Sebring:Will check that out Mark. Avagen, last question please. 12:49:56 PM Avagene Moore:It concerns me that EM is usually behind the curve; strictly from your experience with GIS and other technologies, why is this so? 12:50:28 PM mark whitney:There are a million reasons... 12:50:50 PM mark whitney:Perhaps all the attention that EM has recieved in recent years will improve the status quo... 12:51:13 PM mark whitney:not to mention activies such as the one we are participating in at the moment... 12:51:29 PM mark whitney:exchanging information creates new ideas ect. 12:51:37 PM Amy Sebring:I think we could probably devote an entire session ... 12:51:48 PM Amy Sebring:to that question Avagene! 12:52:19 PM Amy Sebring:I would like to thank Mark for all the preparation he did for today's session.... 12:52:33 PM Amy Sebring:terrific graphics, and we will include the links in the online version of the .... 12:52:47 PM Amy Sebring:transcript so folks can go back and look at them in greater detail. 12:53:06 PM Amy Sebring:A word from Ms. Avagene about upcoming events ? 12:53:11 PM Avagene Moore:Next week, we have Dolores Beaugez, Publisher of the Horse Review in the Round Table, Tuesday Oct 6, 1 PM EDT. Discussion on Animals and Disaster Planning. 12:53:35 PM Avagene Moore:Weds, Dr Tom Schmidlin, Kent Unive... 12:53:58 PM Avagene Moore:will present a paper on Florida's deadly tornadoes... 12:54:18 PM Avagene Moore:this past February. Oct 7, 12 Noon EDT. 12:54:39 PM Amy Sebring:We invite you all to meet us back over in the Virtual Forum Room ... 12:54:59 PM Amy Sebring:for a few more minutes of open discussion with Mark... 12:54:59 PM Amy Sebring:Thanks everyone for being with us today.