Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems, Models, and the Internet for International Disaster Assistance Author: Laurence Broun 102 Army Pentagon Phone: 703-588-8054
Remote sensing, GIS, and models have a lengthy history in supporting planning, response, and recovery from disasters. Imagery has proven an excellent method for rapid assessment of conditions following the occurrence of a disaster, although the acquisition of airborne analog image sets constrains the ease and potential breadth of distribution of both the images and information derived by interpretative techniques. GIS and models linked to GIS for display are increasingly being used as part of emergency management to portray critical information about infrastructure, population and demographic information, consequences of an event, and progress in response to and recovery from disasters and to aid analysis. More widely available computer hardware and GIS software have increased the use of information technology as part of emergency response and recovery, but it is the advent and burgeoning use of the Internet that has fostered the integration of these technologies into the emergency managers' toolkit. |