Geospatial Technologies and Homeland Security: An Overview

Abstract

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, homeland security has not only become a top priority of US government policies at all levels (National Governors’ Association 2006; Homeland Security Council 2007), it also has become an emerging field of study (Bullock et al. 2006). Homeland security presents an enormous opportunity but also poses daunting challenges for higher education (National Research Council 2005). Despite the diverse interpretation of the term ‘homeland security,’ existing literature can be grouped in two categories: either narrowly defined as dealing with intentional, human-induced terrorist attacks, or more broadly defined as dealing with any disasters of technological, natural, and human origin. This book takes the broader view. Regardless of how homeland security is defined, the tasks it deals with typically follow more or less the same cycles of response in a typical emergency situation: detection, preparedness, prevention, protection, rescue, relief, recovery, and reconstruction (Cutter 2003). Although data needed in each phase of an emergency response may differ in spatial and temporal scales, government agencies and citizens need access to real-time, multiple types of general information, as well as accurate geospatial information in order to accomplish many of the tasks during an emergency response situation (Briggs et al. 2002; National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States 2004; Patterson and Apostolakis 2007). Geospatial technologies encompass a suite of technologies that deal with where, what, when, and how information can be obtained explicitly covering a particular locale, increasingly on multiple scales. Immediately following the 9/11 attacks, government, industry and academy have recognized the need for a tighter coupling between geospatial technologies and homeland security missions, as the former can provide crucial information for accomplishing most of the tasks of the latter (ESRI 2001; FGDC 2001; Beck 2003; Katoaka 2007). Along with bioand nanotechnology, geospatial technologies are widely regarded as one of the three leading technological areas in the 21st century. Generally speaking, geospatial technologies include,