Investigation of Geospatial Support of Incident Management
Go BackThe Geospatial Task Group within the Information Resource Management working team of the National Wildfire Coordinating Group worked with the National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis to identify economic and efficient uses of geospatial technologies among the business areas within the incident management community during active fire assignments. This research project provided greater understanding to incident managers and resource professionals in the following areas:
- Geospatial skills and abilities needed to support incident operations of various sizes and severities
- Preparation, planning, and organization necessary to effectively apply geospatial technologies during incidents
- Infrastructure, such as software, hardware, and product support, necessary to support incident operations; and
- Utility of geospatial products in providing timely and effective intelligence to support incident decision-making.
Approach
The investigation had two phases: an exploratory phase conducted during the fire season of 2002, and a quantitative survey phase administered in late 2002 through 2003. The exploratory phase developed working hypotheses on the antecedent conditions, utility, and barriers to the application of geospatial products, based on direct observations by members of the research team of a range of fire incidents in the summer of 2002. These hypotheses were tested in the survey phase of the research through a methodologically rigorous sampling strategy that covered the spectrum of fire management professionals working in the western United States. During the exploratory phase, team members composed of both federal agency representatives and Fire Center researchers visited fire incidents to observe the use of geospatial technologies and conduct on-site interviews with geospatial technicians and other relevant decision-makers on these fire events.
Principal Investigators:
Joe Frost, FS WO, NIFC
Dorothy Albright, FS Region 5 California
David DelSordo, NPS GTG
LLoyd Queen, NCLFA, University of Montana
Theron Miller, Bolle Center for People and Forests, University of Montana
James Burchfield, Bolle Center for People and Forests, University of Montana
