GIS Helps Local, State, and Federal Agencies Respond to Northern California Firestorms

Recently, thousands of firefighters from local, state, and federal agencies in Redlands, California have been using geographic information system (GIS) software to coordinate and effectively respond to the recent outbreak of Northern California firestorms. GIS and remote-sensing specialists are working to capture, manipulate, integrate, and maintain data collected from sensors and aerial assets such as the United States Air Force Global Hawk, Air National Guard RC26 planes, multiple infrared sensors, and commercial satellite coverage. GIS is being used to gain accurate situational awareness, coordinate multiple agencies fighting the fires, facilitate communication, and provide overall decision support.

For more information, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Cyclone-Damaged Rice Production

Cyclone Nargis, a category 3 tropical storm that struck the low-lying and heavily populated coastline of Myanmar on May 2, 2008, the Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began producing a series of geographic information system (GIS)-based maps of the damaged agricultural areas to accompany its commodity intelligence reports. The GIS maps and flood classification data showed that the areas originally inundated by the storm account for approximately 1.7 million hectares of rice, 24 percent of the national rice area, or roughly 2.5 million tons of rice production on a milled basis.

For more information on this, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

GIS Helps Hurricane Preparation and Response

GIS analysis and visualization helps map the path of Hurricane Gustav.

Geographic information system (GIS) technology played a key role in assisting federal, state, and local agencies to prepare for and respond to Hurricane Gustav. Using GIS allowed for better preparation and prevention measures because it helped mobilize responders, equipment, and supplies. It assisted in evacuations that resulted in nearly two million people, including many thousands of elderly and infirm, moving to safety in an organized, efficient manner. Many of the evacuation plans, which included multiple means of transportation, were assessed, implemented, and monitored using GIS. Personnel determined appropriate evacuation shelters and the most expedient routes to the shelters as well as monitored and managed logistics necessary to sustain shelter operations.

For more information on this story, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

NYRestroom.com to the Rescue!

For all of you who don’t know how great NYRestroom.com truly is, here is the lowdown.

Have you ever traveled to NYC to enjoy a day of shopping or go to a museum and while walking realized “Gee, I need to use a restroom!” So you run to find a bathroom. The first place you look into immediately says “For customers only”, but what if you have no cash? And what if you do buy something and realize it is terrible and feel you wasted your money? What then? You are just left with a really bad experience.

This is where NYRestroom.com comes in. NYRestroom.com provides an interactive mapping domain in which users can log in (free of charge) and locate different restrooms throughout New York City. No more will you have to settle with any bathroom. Finally, you have a choice!! Visitors to NYC are getting the benefit!

On Saturday, September 20, 2008, Dr. Im, owner of VERTICES LLC., along with several Rutgers University/Bloustein students will be doing a survey to update information for NYRestroom.com. The survey will take 2-3 hours and any participants will be credited for their contribution to the project. If you would like to partake in the opportunity, meet at the New Brunswick Train Station before 10am and also bring a digital camera (if you have one), a pen/pencil, and an RU ID.

The reality is, We’ve all gotta go, and in a place such as New York City this task can become a hassle. However, with the help of websites like NYRestrooms.com, the task just becomes a lot easier to overcome.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Improvements in Infectious Disease Surveillance

Recently, many professional societies sent a joint letter to several representatives asking their support for the National Integrated Public Health Surveillance Systems and Reportable Conditions Act.The primary goal of the NIPHSSRCA is to modernize our surveillance infrastructure. The legislation focuses on improving two areas of surveillance–genetic fingerprinting and emerging infectious diseases, including antibiotic resistant organisms. The legislation would also establish a uniform list of notifiable diseases that all laboratories would be required to report. It would also map diseases using GIS technology.

For more information on this legislation, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Emergency ambulances with GIS service

Chennai officials recently launched the Emergency Management and Research Institute’s (EMRI). For this service, 108 emergency ambulances are available and equipped with emergency equipment ranging from defibrillators to ventilators, to handle almost any emergency situation. The ambulances are also be equipped with GIS and GPS systems, which would help locate the geographical position of emergency scene and help the nearest ambulance reach the site in the shortest possible time.

For more information on the technology advances in India, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Slight dengue increase in St. Maarten

Sector Health Care Affairs (SHCA) and the Hygiene and Veterinary Affairs Department have stepped up their anti-dengue response after noticing an increase in the number of lab confirmed cases as well as lab requests in St. Maarten. Dengue fever is a tropical disease caused by a virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes and marked by high fever and severe muscle and joint pains. It is possible that the cases are stemming from residents living in the St. Johns area. Further testing will be done to record this.

Since this information was released to the public by GIS, it has urged residents to continue taking preventative measures against mosquito breeding in order to stem any further increase in dengue cases. Residents are also strongly advised to take action by making sure there is no stagnant water in their yards and roof spouts; and to responsibly dispose of old tires, empty drums, buckets, jars, birdbaths, boats, plant containers, paint cans and other items that can collect water around their homes and businesses.

For more information on St. Maarten and the dengue fever, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

9/11 Health Problems

Seven years later, people who inhaled the dust after the tragedy of 9/11 — first responders and reconstruction workers, people who lived or worked nearby — have experienced high rates of respiratory disorders, from asthma to lung inflammation. Today there is information on the degree of exposure and what levels of pollutants were in the air at different points in time and space. To get this information, there was a lot of air sampling and GIS used. Combined with the databases and knowledge of where people were on what day, all the information gathered helped researchers to come up with an exposure index for each individual person.

For more information on the health problems associated with 9/11, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Septic Management with GIS

With an estimated 40,000 – 45,000 septic systems in Westchester County (approximately 30,000 of them in the Croton Watershed) and an estimated 80,000 Westchester County residents who get their drinking water from ground water sources, the issue of septic management is taken very seriously.

One way of improving the issue is by the creation of countywide septic education.  In order to implement this program, a centralized database of all septic properties needs to be developed from County and Town records.  In development is a proposal for a centralized, online database that will plot all septic systems by both mailing address and tax lot ID number.  This data will be plotted on GIS maps and will also include pump out report data, historical as-built schematics and can also be cross-referenced to well test data to identify possible threats to groundwater sources.  Once implemented, this database will enable countywide septic education, empower and assist local municipalities in MS4 compliance and will drastically cut the research time for local building inspectors and contractors on viewing as-built schematics.

For more information about the County of Westchester plans, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC

Possum here, Possum there, Possum everywhere?

The possums are running rampant! But officials in New Zealand intend on getting the population under control. They have a new weapon of mass marsupial destruction! It’s not a new kind of trap or poison – it’s information!

Possums continue to be a problem in New Zealand because they eat the foliage and bushes as well as deprive native birds of food. Possums also eat the eggs and chicks of native birds and the main carriers of bovine tuberculosis, which causes wasting in infected cattle and deer and can infect humans.

In order to eradicate the bovine TB, VectorNet, a database combined with a geographic information system (GIS) has been developed to be the backbone of the endeavor. VectorNet keeps tabs on every facet of possum control, from planning the year’s field activities to managing the 150 contractors around the country responsible for the killing, who access the system via the internet using handheld computers.

For more information about GIS in New Zealand, please read the full article here.

Melissa Lawrence, Rutgers Student Intern, VERTICES, LLC