WiSAR Capability and Readiness Assessment Tool

The NAPSG Foundation Search and Rescue Working Group (SARWG) has completed an update to the Capability and Readiness Assessment Tool (CARAT)

What is CARAT? The Capability and Readiness Assessment Tool (CARAT) is a tool created by NAPSG Foundation.  It is designed to serve as a roadmap for public safety officials and GIS practitioners interested in learning how GIS can be applied to the public safety mission and/or in building GIS to support their agencies’ work.

Here is the direct link to the WiSAR CARAT Tool: http://bitly.com/WiSARCARAT

This website provides links to the qualifications and tools that can be used by SAR Teams to understand what geographic information systems have to offer. 

Here are some of the tools listed under 'Crawl'. All of the tools indexed under CARAT can be found in this Group. 

Here is a screenshot of qualifications for Field Data Entry Technician from NAPSG Foundation's Qualification and Credentialing Website.

We are hoping for some constructive feedback in the coming weeks so we can make improvements to the site and generate ideas for training to help SAR Teams get running with GIS for SAR. 

MRA Mapping Hangout #1

The NAPSG Foundation and the Mountain Rescue Association have partnered up to do a "Mapping Hangout" once per month to discuss the MRA Mapping Portal. For more information on the MRA Mapping Portal, see this recent webcast from the PMI Webinar Series.

In this Mapping Hangout we reviewed how to use the MRA Mission Data Portal and covered a special topic - How To Make A Public Map. You can download the tutorial here: http://bit.ly/MRATutorial1

The first Hangout had a technical glitch and did not broadcast, so here is a shorter version I recorded alone immediately after.

Below is a simple example of an embedded map from this tutorial.

And here is a web mapping application using the Public Information Map template, created by Jon Pedder from Sierra Madre SAR.

SARGIS7 Report

Thank you to all who participated in the 7th Annual Search and Rescue GIS Workshop on November 12-15 in Sonora, CA. The workshop was a resounding success for all participants. Special thanks to the NAPSG Foundation and Columbia College's budding GIS Program (see more about Columbia College GIS).

We are pleased to announce that the workshop materials are now available online at http://www.napsgfoundation.org/resources/materials-available-search-rescue-gis-workshop/.The Agenda posted here includes links to the materials used during each session and training for easy navigation and access. 

Additionally, we have also posted the After Action Notes from the breakout sessions on the last day, Nov. 15 at the link above. By SARGIS8 - the SAR Working Group plans to make progress in four key areas: 

• Guidelines for GIS in SAR
• Tools and Resources
• Training  
• Technology Integration (Cell Phone Analysis, Unmanned Aerial Systems, etc.) 

Who was there? 55 participants, mostly from California but also scattered across North America.

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Here are some photos of the action.

Don teaching IGT4SAR to a full classroom

Lorri presenting on where to find base data

Storytime

Why use USNG? - Talk to Cole

Hands-on with USNG

Beautiful setting - Columbia College

Action Items!

Sneak Peak of the Map Products "Menu" for Responders and Decision-Makers Link: http://bit.ly/SARGISMenu

See more: #SARGIS7 Tweets

 

SARScene 2015 and Washington DC Trip Report

As I fly back to California, I reflect on a fun and productive week and a half.

Last week I attended the 2015 SARScene in Prince Edward Island, Canada. On Thursday, I helped Norman Deschamps teach a workshop on SAR Explorer (SARX) which had students from multiple provinces. All students agreed they will use SARX for future operations and want to learn more about MapSAR and IGT4SAR for advanced mapping. Norm really broke it down and made it easy to follow, great course.

Then on Friday night, I helped "Team SAR" put together some solutions for combining an online / offline platform for hasty search response. This included a wireless server that can work without internet for signing in volunteers and providing them with a pdf map. When they return within range of the wifi router, it will automatically grab their gps track data. This solution was named "Blue Diamond" and created by Michael Coyle, Thierry Des Trois Maison, and Cameron Dykeman (the night shift). Agata Lawrynczyk built her first ever web mapping application (using ArcGIS Online Web AppBuilder) which contributed to MapSAR Online version 4. This app allows you to very quickly plot the initial planning point, draw an assignment, and print a map. Very simple, but very useful. In the end "Team SAR" won the hackathon!

The GitHub repositories for each solution are public here:

• Blue Diamond https://github.com/SARscene
• MapSAR Online https://github.com/pjdohertygis/MapSAROnline

MapSAR Online can produce a quick map and connect first responders with GIS Analysts working remotely.

After a traditional maritime "kitchen party" on Saturday night in PEI, I said farewell to my Canadian counterparts, and continued on to meet with colleagues from the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation in Washington D.C. There we met with representatives from the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team and the National Association for Search and Rescue. As an outcome, the NAPSG Search and Rescue Workgroup now has an informal partnership with FEMA and NASAR to share best practices and hopefully form a more strategic partnership in the future to support the development of standard operating guidelines, symbology tools, and training. 

Needless to say, it was a big month for GIS in SAR. More announcements to follow at SARGIS7, see some of you there!

SAR Mapping Course @SARSceneCanada

For those of you who are going to Canada's National Search and Rescue Conference in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island October 22-26, 2015, (SARScene) we just want to give you a heads up that there will be a workshop on Thursday, October 22 devoted to mapping and GIS specifically for search and rescue location data management. The course includes almost three hours of hands on tutorial with SAR Explorer (SARX), as well as demonstrations of using MapSAR and ArcGIS online for more collaborative SARGIS data management efforts. 

The description of the course, and a link to the course description on the SARScene 2015 website are at the end of the post. There are still about a half dozen spots available in the workshop, so if SAR GIS is your thing, don't miss out!

SAR Mapping - http://www.sarscene.ca/2015/training_e.asp
It is not too late to sign up for SARScene - Registration Page / Renseignements

In this course we will share best practices for using mapping technology and the power of geographic information for both short-term and long-term search operations. We will discuss three technology options in detail and you will learn some hands-on skills. This course is a great opportunity to learn how to use software that provides virtually everything a team needs to mange spatial information during a search operation. Even if your team has already chosen to use a different mapping platform, this session will still be valuable as a way to expand your knowledge on efficiently managing GIS (geographic information system) data during a search.

Instructors:

• Norman Deschamps - Search Manager and GIS Analyst, Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue Association, New Brunswick
• Paul J. Doherty, PhD - WiSAR Specialist, National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation

Location: Rodd Charlottetown - Georgian Terrace
Time: 8:00 - 16:00

Norman Deschamps, creator of SAR Explorer

Paul Doherty, SARGIS enthusiasts

The 7th Annual Search and Rescue GIS Workshop and Meeting #SARGIS7

The SARGIS Working Group within the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation will be hosting the 7th Annual SARGIS Workshop and Meeting (#SARGIS7).

Read the report and access the final agenda, presentations, etc. at: http://wisarandgis.blogspot.com/2015/11/sargis7-report.html

To Register: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ebj3nub834a6869b&llr=nplxpbdab
Where: Columbia College in Sonora, CA

When: November 12-15, 2015

Cost: Free 

Workshop: The workshop will include a 1.5 days of hands-on training with ArcGIS Desktop (MapSAR_Ex / IGT4SAR) along with GPS field exercises. There will also be a lesson on how to use the free ArcGIS Explorer Desktop app for basic SAR Mapping (SAR Explorer) and SARTopo.

Meeting: The meeting will have a keynote address, presentations, and discussion forums. This event will focus primarily on using GIS best practices for missing person search operations, but will address diverse topics such as:

• Review existing GIS and mapping tools for SAR
• New SARGIS tools (Web GIS, mobile apps, etc.)
• UAS, drones, and GIS
• Cell Phone Analysis GIS
• Remote Collaboration
• Update from the California GISCorps
• Standards for SARGIS symbology, SOGs, training, etc.
• Urban Search and Rescue GIS
• Preventative Search and Rescue GIS

Audience: GIS Professionals & Students interested in learning how they can help SAR teams, Search and Rescue personnel (paid and unpaid) who want to know more about GIS for SAR, and other Public Safety professionals interested in attending so they can operationalize the use of geographic information systems.

Agenda (more  details to follow)

Day	Event	Audience
Thursday	SARGIS Training	Pre-req: ArcGIS Desktop installed, Getting Started With GIS Course or equivalent
Friday
Morning & Early Afternoon	SARGIS Training	Pre-req: ArcGIS Desktop installed, Getting Started With GIS Course or equivalent
Late Afternoon	Plenary Session	Students, Professors, GIS Professionals, SAR Professionals, Public Safety Professionals, outdoor recreationalists
Evening	Social	A chance to meet the attendees and socialize. Location to be announced (local pub / restaurant).
Saturday	Presentations and Discussion Forums	SAR Professionals, GIS Professionals
Sunday	Presentations and Discussion Forums	SAR Professionals, GIS Professionals

Lodging

HOTEL / MOTEL with Special Rate

THE ALADDIN INN

Address:  14260 Mono Way, Sonora, CA 95370

Phone:  (209) 533-4971

Website:  aladdininn.com

Distance from Columbia College:  8 Miles / 15-17 Minutes

Cost:  $72 for Thursday Night & $80 for the remaining Weekend Nights for any attendee of the SARGIS7 Conference.

CAMPING / RV OPTIONS

TUTTLETOWN CAMPGROUND AT NEW MELONES RESERVOIR

Address:  Reynolds Ferry Rd, Sonora, CA 95370

Phone:  (877) 444-6777

Website:  usbr.gov/mp/ccao/newmelones/camping.html

Distance from Columbia College:  9 Miles / 13-15 Minutes

Cost:  $22 per night for Standard Campsite; $18 a night for Walk-In Campsite (No Special Arrangements for the Conference were available)

MARBLE QUARRY RV PARK

Address:  11551 Yankee Hill Road, Columbia, CA 95310

Phone:  (866) 677-8464

Website:  marblequarry.com

Distance from Columbia College: 2 Miles / 4-5 Minutes

Cost:  $40 per night for RV; $25 per night for Tent Camping (No Special Arrangements for the Conference were available)

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Mapping Technology in Wilderness Search and Rescue

This week Caroline Rose successfully completed and defended her MS Thesis at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I had the pleasure of attending virtually and was extremely happy to see her hard work and innovation culminate in a superb presentation. This blog is just an update to let you know the thesis is available for download and highlight some key findings for the SAR Community.

Where can I find the thesis?
Here is the link to the research website where you can read Caroline's work and download a copy: http://cmrrose.github.io/thesis/

What are the highlights?
Caroline conducted interviews with a representative sample of the SAR community and quantified their responses to address three key research questions.

These are the three primary research questions addressed by Caroline's thesis. 

Here are some key findings (from my point of view):

• People are still using a wide variety of software for general mapping, GIS, GPS, and web mapping.
• There are many challenges to using these technologies but almost as many insightful  suggestions on how they could be better utilized in the future.
• Of all the challenges discussed, availability or accessibility of human resources, availability and accessibility of geographic information, and software usability appear to be of most concern. 

Sankey diagrams are a specific type of flow diagram, in which the width of the connection is shown proportionally to the flow quantity. Here it is applied to the 24 interviews conducted with SAR personnel. It is a way to help you visualize the quantitative data (word utilization) and begin to understand the significance and relatedness of each topic.

If you really do not have time to read the thesis or play with the super cool interactive Sankey diagram - then see an except from the Conclusion below.

One participant stated that “searches are still solved by people out on foot, thrashing around in terrain. GIS is just a tool... it’s not some magic something where technology saves the day.” What GIS technology offers is another tool in the searcher’s toolbox—a tool with unique advantages that no other form of mapping technology can replace. If GIS can help focus resources, spark a key insight, or streamline incident management, it may make an important difference in an emergency situation. As one participant put it, “any tool that is going to be there for the betterment of the search and the potential of saving that life, why wouldn't you use it?” GIS capability also can be a benefit to WiSAR teams outside of the emergent search event, supporting documentation, prevention, and preparation.

The challenges to GIS use in WiSAR are surmountable, and many efforts are
already underway to improve the usability of, provide training in, contribute expertise from, and promote awareness of GIS. There also have been efforts to expand interoperability across mapping technology, working toward what I suggest is the ideal: not one prescribed system, but a range of compatible tools that leverage the benefits of several different forms of mapping technology, scale to meet the demands of an incident, and facilitate data aggregation across WiSAR incidents.

That sounds like a call to action to me!

What does the research mean for the SARGIS Community?
There is a lot of great information extracted from Caroline's interviews that complements the earlier work of Loren Pfau and others. This type of research is really important for informing the SARGIS community on where we should invest our resources. 

• We need more people trained in GIS and other mapping technology 
• We need more access to up-to-date geographic information
• We need more tools that make mapping technology 'usable' 

This thesis, how to take action on the findings, and much more will be discussed at #SARGIS7 in November, details coming soon...