The Defense Department is using geospatial, or mapping, technology in a tool that will soon be available to assist countries and organizations dealing with the deadly consequences of hurricanes, earthquakes and other disasters and humanitarian crises, experts from DoD and U.S. Southern Command said in a recent DoD News interview.
The open-source software is called GeoSHAPE, which stands for geospatial tool for security, humanitarian assistance and partnership engagement, Elmer L. Roman said.
Roman is oversight executive for efforts that include building partnerships and serves in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, or AT&L.
"This tool is basically used to build capacity to help support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief situations, as well as enabling organizations and governments to enhance the security of their people and citizens," he explained. "That's what 'SHAPE' in the name GeoSHAPE stands for."
When it's ready for use worldwide, the GeoSHAPE software will be accessible in two ways: through an Internet portal using an application called DisasterAWARE hosted by the Pacific Disaster Center, or PDC, in Hawaii, and downloadable software openly available on the Internet.
The PDC has been managed since 2006 by the University of Hawaii under a cooperative agreement with the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. The center's program office provides humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations and defense support to civil authorities.
GeoSHAPE integrates data from multiple sources and displays it in a dynamic Internet-based map to provide situational awareness and help decision-making.
GeoSHAPE software shows, for instance, the location and availability of hospitals, helicopter landing zones, food, water and medical supplies, the condition of roads and bridges, the deployment of rescue personnel to affected areas, and other key elements that are plotted in a map that authorized users can see from anywhere in the world.
The mobile application Arbiter, part of the GeoSHAPE capability, lets users capture data and photos in the field.
Organizations can use these tools to collaboratively create a dynamic picture of available resources and the extent of damage. This can be available in near real time when connectivity is present or synchronized as soon as a connection is established.
"GeoSHAPE is really about improving our mapping capabilities [with] maps of situations,” said Juan Hurtado, Southcom science advisor. “You're not only going to have a location, you're going to have a time that's uniquely associated with it."
A paper map is static, he noted. “But if you have a disaster you can say, ‘At 3 o’clock in this location, this is the situation.’ At 5 o’clock, you update the map based on the situation as it changes. That's what this map is -- so you can improve the response to a disaster."
The need for GeoSHAPE technology and the capability became apparent during the multi-organizational response to the magnitude 7.0 earthquake and tsunami surges in the Port-au-Prince, Haiti, region in January 2010.