1. Capturing Hurricane Katrina Data for Analysis and Lessons-Learned Research (Dr. David R. Shaw) -in progress
Hurricane Katrina
represents an unparalleled opportunity for homeland security research and study. During this event of national significance, the importance
of geospatial data was demonstrated during the search, rescue and recovery efforts. The Mississippi Geographic Information System
community volunteered countless hours in the weeks following Katrina, generating thousands of GIS, remote sensing and map products
for use by local, state and federal agency personnel. However, the lack of a central archive for geospatial information presents a
lost opportunity for understanding how these services could be improved for future events. For most major catastrophic incidents,
the acquisition, management and archive of critical data does not occur in a coordinated, organized manner. Instead, various agencies
that have operational responsibilities acquire and hold data that pertain to their mission without the mandate or funding to share
those data to a central archive. Data held by individual agencies is maintained for varying lengths of time and is then either discarded
or written out to a permanent storage media. Without a central archive to hold the entire collection of data from all agencies the
full understanding of response efforts to any incident will be very difficult.
2. Specification, Validation and
Verification of Imagery Products for Disaster Management and Response (Dr. Greg Easson) -in progess
The goal of this proposed project
is to create a reference key designed to increase the utility of imagery products for disaster response. This reference key will describe
the technical specifications for remote sensing data acquisition systems that are necessary to produce data products that address
the functional requirements of the first responder community and the FEMA Essential Elements of Information.
3. Mississippi
Groundwater, Surface Water, and Dam Inventory and Vulnerability Assessment (Dr. Robert Holt) -in progress
Mississippi groundwater and
surface water (GW/SW) resources, including shallow aquifers, streams, dams, and reservoirs, represent “key resources” and “key assets”
as defined by the Interim National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) of February 2005. We propose three interrelated tasks to
1) inventory Mississippi GW/SW resources and dams in a GIS spatial database which can be used for vulnerability assessment and to
parameterize numerical GW/SW models for additional risk assessment and modeling and 2) assess the vulnerability of these resources
to various threats, and 3) provide training to state agency end users of the GIS database and vulnerability assessment tools. The
GIS databases and vulnerability assessments produced in this effort will be developed in coordination with and provided to sector
specific agencies, including the Mississippi Department of Public Safety Office of Homeland Security, Mississippi Emergency Management
Agency, and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (including the Dam Safety Division). Database and model training will
be provided to end users of these products.
4. A Simulation Environment for Planning, Training, and Assessment of
Emergency Response and Evacuation Capabilities at High Consequence Sports Events (Dr. Lou Marciani) -in progress
Effective emergency
security management of large-scale spectator sports events is vital nationwide because of the potential for mass causalities and detrimental
economic impact. The objective of this project is to develop a robust evacuation simulation system to evaluate and support emergency
response, stadium evacuation operations, and the subsequent traffic flow at high consequence sports events. At the completion of this
project, the new evacuation simulation system will be accessible to universities, professional and amateur sports organizations nationwide.
This project has been endorsed by the NCAA and NFL.