Prerequisite: None

One of the critical issues in the management of emergencies and disasters is being able to develop accurate situational awareness. Providing emergency managers with useful information on which to base decisions and take actions is of the utmost importance. In this session, attendees will learn about two projects leading the way to provide situational awareness. A joint operation of the Missouri State University's Political Science Department and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Center for Disaster Management, the Intelligent, Interactive Spatial Information System (IISIS) project’s Situational Awareness Module uses a variety of data sources to develop a synopsis of the situation while providing the user the ability to drill down into specific information. The system is designed to not only monitor existing conditions but compare them with available resources to heighten awareness of potential resource issues. Virtual Alabama is a computerized database of information superimposed on satellite imagery and aerial photography of all 67 Alabama counties. This type of program can help emergency responders, law enforcement, economic developers and more with their planning and response because it is based on collaborative and multijurisdictional information sharing. After the success of Virtual Alabama, US DHS launched Virtual USA in December 2009, designed after Alabama’s pilot program. Virtual USA is an initiative that will aid federal, state, local and tribal first responders communicate during emergencies.


Learning Objectives:

• Merger of experience and technology for decision support

• Combination of static and dynamic data sources into decision support system

• A unique application useful for monitoring conditions, response and mitigation policies