INTERNET GISERVICES FOR HOMELAND SECURITY

Homeland Security and Web GIS

This paper will illustrate the potentials of applying Internet Geographic Information Services (GIServices) to improve homeland security intelligence works.  In the post-911 era, homeland security has been a one of the primary missions for all levels of U.S. governments. The homeland security intelligence is of critical importance in preventing the terrorist attacks, responding to the natural/human disasters and recovering from the hazard damages.  A web-based spatial decision support system can combine dynamic geospatial information and web mapping services from multiple web servers located in federal, state and local agencies.  The dynamic integration of web mapping services and information can provide more accurate and effective information for decision making processes.  Such information exchange is essential to pre-emergency planning, critical first response actions, relief efforts, and community recover.  Furthermore, such information can greatly enhance daily operations and cooperation among agencies in meeting homeland defense responsibilities.

  The NASA REASoN Project Showcase

The paper will introduce a NASA REASoN project, called "A Border Security Spatial Decision Support System", as a showcase of Internet GIS applications for homeland security tasks.  This project is the collaboration between San Diego State University and the San Diego Sector of U.S. Border Patrol Agency  (http://geoinfo.sdsu.edu/reason) .   This project seeks to establish and implement an integrated web mapping services that will allow rapid integration of geospatial data among participating agencies. By utilizing a standardized web mapping interface (OGC Web Map Server Interfaces Implementation Specification) and popular vendor-based frameworks (ESRI ArcIMS services), individual participating agencies can implement their own data systems and services while maintaining an aggregated system-wide interoperability through multiple data warehouses and web-based decision support systems (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The interoperable database framework for web-based spatial decision support systems. Real time Web Mapping from Multiple Resources

To test and evaluate the feasibility of the proposed framework, the REASoN project selected the National Weather Service (NWS) (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/) and USGS Natural Hazard Support System (NHSS) (http://nhss.cr.usgs.gov/) to combine with local San Diego Border Region GIS layers.  Real time or near-real time data from NWS and NHSS can be rapidly fetched and distributed to the Web GIS application and be viewed by decision makers.  Figure 2 illustrated an ArcIMS mapping service screenshot which combined NWS, NHSS, and local GIS data in the San Diego region  to demonstrate the potentials of Web GIS spatial decision support systems.

 

 

Figure 2.  The integrated Internet GIServices (combining NWS and NHSS with local San Diego GIS layers).

  Discussion and Future Directions

Beyond GIS data and mapping services, Internet GIServices can support customizable spatial analysis functions in the future.  The newly developed ArcGIS server by ESRI or Open-source GIS tools offers powerful GIS analysis tools at the server side. It is clear that desktop GIS tools are migrating to the web platform. It is totally applicable to develop comprehensive GIS analysis online tools by either using commercial Application Development Framework or adopting lower level of programming models, such as Java-based applications.   Another future direction of Internet GIServices for homeland security is the adoption of mobile GIS with wireless communication devices.   Mobile GIS can provide critical geospatial information on the ground and can be sent to the Internet GIS server for data update and announcement in a timely manner. The servers can also response to the inquiries made by the client devices to assist in-field actions.   To summarize, the needs of enhancing homeland security provide great opportunities for the future development of Internet GIServices. The recent progress of GIS technologies and Web services can facilitate the easy adoption of Internet GIServices in all major homeland security tasks.  Beside the technology development of Internet GIServices, it is also important to promote the awareness of geospatial technology in various levels of decision makers and to facilitate the collaboration between GIS researchers and homeland security staff.