Risk Management Strategies:
Role of Urban Information
Management and Services
Dr. Robert S. Chen
Deputy Director and Senior Research Scientist
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)
Manager, Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
Columbia University
With inputs from:
Mark Reichardt
Open GIS Consortium
World Data Center for Human
Interactions in the Environment
Columbia University
in the City of New York
Data and Information Post 9/11
 NYC EMC destroyed in WTC
 Included GIS capabilities
 Alternative command center brought in
GIS systems, experts, volunteers within
first 2-3 days
 Different systems, data used by different
agencies
 Everyone adopted NYC base map,
developed from 1-foot orthoimagery
 GIS, GPS, remote sensing, Internet
mapping used widely for monitoring,
analysis, coordination, planning, control,
communication, investigation
 Some data had to be driven down from
Albany!
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Emergency Response Data and
Information Needs
 Many possible disaster scenarios
 need robust and flexible access to diverse data and information
 need underlying framework or structure for assimilating new data
 Difficult to know what is going on in many different places
 need real-time access to data from different sources
 need accessible analysis and modeling services
 need data and information generated from monitoring and analysis to be
shared and exchanged between dozens of different groups involved in
response (both public and private)
 Information system itself may be vulnerable
 need redundancy, survivability, and ability to redeploy assets
 Demand for information by policy makers and the public is immediate
 need to have communication channels and templates in place in advance
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Example NYC Maps Used and
Disseminated by the EMC (1)
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Columbia University
in the City of New York
Example NYC Maps Used and
Disseminated by the EMC (2)
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Columbia University
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Some Key Barriers to Meeting
Needs
 Data hard to find, access, and integrate
Data not cataloged or cataloged inconsistently
Catalogs scattered, don’t support automated data access
Data are offline, proprietary, and/or restricted
Technical issues, e.g., projection, resolution, format, quality
 Data and information systems don’t talk to each other
Lack of standards; proliferation of proprietary or idiosyncratic
formats, styles of presentations, tools, etc.
Lack of interoperability between instruments, data loggers,
database systems, catalogs, analysis packages, prediction
models, mapping/visualization tools, etc.
 Hard to communicate complex spatial, technical data
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Columbia University
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City of New York Viewpoint
• Alan Leidner, City-wide GIS Coordinator
Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications
During the response to the recent attacks on the World Trade
Center, the rapid integration of spatial data from numerous local,
state, federal, NGO and private sector sources was a major priority.
Through OGC, we have been able to partner broadly with members
of industry, government and academia to address some of the
critical interoperability issues that challenged us during that time. I
am confident that this relationship will no doubt help the market
deliver interoperable capabilities that further improve our ability to
deal with future emergencies as well as the critical services we
provide to our citizens on a daily basis.
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What is the Open GIS Consortium?
 Not-for-profit, international consortium
whose 230+ industry, government, and
university members work to make
geographic information an integral part
of information systems of all kinds
 Operates a Specification Development
Program similar to other Industry
consortia (W3C, OMG, etc.).
 Operates an Interoperability Program
(IP), a global, innovative, partnershipdriven, hands-on engineering and testing
program designed to deliver proven
specifications into the SDP.
 New MOU with the Columbia Earth
Institute!
OGC Vision
A world in which everyone
benefits from
geographic information and
services made available
across any network,
application, or platform.
OGC Mission
Our core mission is to deliver
spatial interface
specifications
that are openly available for
global use.
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Columbia University
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Open Web Services Initiative 1
(OWS-1) Demonstration
Simulated users,
including Geospatial
Specialists, Remote
Sensing Experts,
Domain
Professionals,
Incident Support
Teams, Decision
Makers:
Sources
Federal
University
NGO
State
Local
Publish, Find and
Access multiple
information sources
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OWS-1 Timeline and the Players
• Kickoff: September 2001
• Demonstration: March 2002, Chantilly VA
• OWS-1 Sponsors:
‒ US Environmental Protection Agency, GeoConnections Canada,
NASA, NIMA, Lockheed Martin, USGS, FGDC, ERDC, CANRI
• OWS-1 Participants:
– Compusult, CubeWerx, Dawn Corp, DLR, ESRI, Galdos
Systems, GMU, Intergraph, Ionic Software, Laser-Scan, PCI
Geomatics, Polexis, SAIC, Social Change Online, Syncline, YSI,
University of Alabama Huntsville, Vision for NY
• OWS-1 Coordinating Organizations
– NYC DOITT, NYC DEP, FEMA, EPA Region 2, CIESIN, Urban
Logic
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OWS-1 Clients and Services
Client Tier
Register
Services
Client
Middle Tier Services
Find
Registry
Service
(metadata)
Data Tier Services
Web
Map
Service
Publish/
Harvest
Publish/Harvest
Discovery
Client
Imagery
Viewer Client
Sensor
Client
Portrayal
Services
optional
Web
Feature
Service
Bind
internet
Bind
internet
Map Viewer
Client
Web Client
Generator
Sensor
Collection
Service
Sensors
Sensors
Sensors
Bind
Web
Coverage
Service
Web
Coverage
Service
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OWS-1 Demonstration:
Areas of Interest
AOI 3 – NY State, New Jersey,
Long Island
AOI 2 – Greater New York City
Region
AOI 1 – Lower Manhattan
AOI 0 - 10 acre area centered
around WTC
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OWS-1 Demonstration:
User Scenarios
Vignette 1 – Get Quick Maps
Rapidly develop an overall view of the disaster area to support
response
Vignette 2 – Service Registration and Discovery
Search for more relevant data and services
Vignette 3 – Sensor Web Access
Combine data from multiple networks of in-situ sensors
Vignette 4 – Imagery Access and Visualization
Flexibly portray imagery and integrate imagery and mapping
information
Vignette 5 – Supporting Decision Flow
Make maps available on a portal accessed from “Situation Room”
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Vignette 1:
Get Quick Maps
 Combine multiple sources combining images and
weather patterns
Landsat
WMS
JPL
EPA
Enviromapper
Syncline
Wrapper
WMS Client
Syncline
WMS
NASA
WMS
CubeWerx
Weather
Transportation
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Vignette 3:
Sensor Web Access
 Access real-time sensors
NOAA
METAR Data
SCS
SAIC
Map Viewer
SAIC + ESRI
NY State
Air Quality Data
SCS
Polexis
SCS
SAIC
YSI Water Quality
And Meteorology Sensor
NYC
OrthoImagery
And Structures
WMS
CubeWerx
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Vignette 4:
Image Access & Visualization
 Access remote sensing data for both visualization and
analysis
Web
Browser
Intergraph
WCS
Retrieval
Service
WCS
Huntsville, AL
Intergraph
LIDAR
X-SAR
Files
Web
Browser
Existing
GIS
S/W
PCI
WCS
Retrieval
Service
WCS
DLR
WCS
GMU
Germany
AVIRIS
Greenbelt, MD
MODIS
WCS
Polexis San Diego, CA
WCS/
WMS
PCI
SPOT
Ottawa, ONT, CA
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Hazard Vulnerability Assessment:
OGC NYC Demo
 Intergraph client
showing NYC
imagery with
overlaid features
 Fire districts (red
lines) drawn from
WFS-compliant
SEDAC server
 SEDAC working
with Ionic
Software to host
WMS-, WFS-, and
WCS-compliant
servers
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GIS-Based Decision Support Tool
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UAH Space-Time Toolkit
“Thick” client
that supports
animation, 3-D
visualization of
phenomena
Courtesy of M.
Botts, University
of Alabama
Huntsville
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UAH Plume Model
Courtesy of M.
Botts,
University of
Alabama
Huntsville
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Example of Landsat TM and
Ikonos Data: Phoenix AZ
22 June
1997
14 August
2000
Prepared by Chris Small of LDEO
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Data/Information Issues
 Shearson-Lehman, others demonstrate critical importance of “hot”
backups for financial transaction data—across Hudson River! Far
enough for the next extreme event?
 Systems may be backed up—but what about expertise, chain of
command?
 Need for seamless data access by multiple levels of government
and responders vs. need for data security
 Need for rapid, flexible development of standards, specifications,
and tools, working closely with industry, academia,
nongovernmental groups, and government.
 “Semantic Divides” to information sharing
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Semantic Divides to Information
Sharing
•
Community A
<Road>
Community B
<Highway>
Critical
Infrastructure
Protection
Event
•
Community C
<Motorway>
Community F
Community D
Within the CIPI-1 Common
Vision, there are basic
methods to transform legacy
(local) data models into core
data models (and vice versa)
minimizing semantic divides
between organizations &
communities.
This is a challenge that will
require extended effort and
coordination with ongoing
activities such as Geospatial
One-Stop, and OGC Domain
Modeling Support Initiatives.
Community E
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Broader Issues
 Individual jurisdictions cannot deal with issues alone;
must have regional collaboration (not just urban)
 Lack of consistent loss estimates and loss estimation
methods
 Inconsistent hazard estimates and incomplete
understanding of uncertainties
 Disparate decision support tools and frameworks
 Risk communication in a networked world!
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