URISA Journal ■ Radke, Cova, Sheridan, Troy, Lan, Johnson 15 Application Challenges for Geographic Information Science: Implications for Research, Education, and Policy for Emergency Preparedness and Response John Radke, Tom Cova, Michael F. Sheridan, Austin Troy, Mu Lan, Russ Johnson Abstract: Understanding geographic information is critical if we are to build and maintain livable communities. Since comput- ing has become almost ubiquitous in planning and managing our communities, it is probable that advances in geographic information science will play a founding role in having more-informed decision making available to all. We examine the challenges that occur between humans and their environment under conditions thought to be hazardous to life or habitat. Emergency preparedness and response are reviewed and the results from focus groups at the University Consortium for Geo- graphic Information Science Summer Assembly (1999), which identified and recommended priorities for research, educational, and policy contributions to emergency preparedness and response, are documented. The Emergency Preparedness and Response Application Challenge The emergency preparedness and response application challenge, as defined at the 1999 Summer Assembly of the University Con- sortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), is mainly concerned with the interaction between humans and their envi- ronment under conditions thought to be hazardous to life or habitat. This challenge is not only multifaceted, as its title im- plies, it covers a wide range of disasters, many with fundamen- tally different underlying processes (such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires). Even though the processes that gener- ate the disaster might be fundamentally different, the techniques to assess risk, evaluate preparedness, and assist response appear to have much in common and can share and benefit from advances in geographic information science (GIScience) (e.g., data acqui- sition and integration; issues of data ownership, access, and li- ability; and interoperability). Natural hazards and most human-generated hazards do not recognize political boundaries, yet policy must be generated in order to mitigate effectively against disasters, to manage rescue and response operations, or to organize and deliver relief, and this policy is usually administered within politically defined boundaries. Geographic information and the systems within which they are collected and managed have particular utility in modeling and analysis that transcends political boundaries, while providing the necessary structure for facilitating the implemen- tation of policy within administrative areas. In a similar vein, while hazards do not often differentiate between land uses, the recovery and the cost and impact on soci- ety are often greatly affected by this differentiation. In some cir- cumstances, the hazard itself is modified and often magnified by heterogeneous landscapes and land use, such as those found where humans interact with nature. These boundary conditions are dif- ficult to map and virtually impossible to model without the use of concepts, tools, and technologies that are evolving within GIScience. In order to assess and mitigate risk to human life and property and to respond effectively, we must develop predictive and operational models that are embedded within a geographic information system (GIS). A post-disaster statement might conclude that, if we knew then what we know now, we could prevent or at least reduce the risk, damage, and loss, and shorten the recovery period. Since GIS and related technologies provide an operational forum for realizing this statement, the effort here begins the process of an- swering the question: What are the challenges for GIScience aris- ing from disaster management? A Paradigm for the Contribution of Geographic Information Science to Emergency Preparedness and Response The contribution of GIScience to emergency preparedness and response might best be navigated within a paradigm that, at the very least, might be represented as a three-dimensional grid but more likely is depicted as a graph with three axes as illustrated in Figure 1.0 One axis represents the hazards as we commonly refer to them: 1) natural hazards such as earthquake, volcanic phe- nomenon, tsunami, landslide, fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, drought, and freeze; and 2) human-induced hazards such as health-related epidemics, social unrest, war, infrastructure failure and collapse, toxic spill, explosion, and fire (accidental or other-