| From the Publisher
By Roland Mangold Disasters: The "Killer App" for the GeoTechnologies. A couple months ago I had the opportunity to meet James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at the ACSM conference in Little Rock, Ark. I was impressed with Director Witt's knowledge of the GeoTechnologies and their potentially invaluable impact on all areas of disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and mitigation.
Director Witt expressed the concern that most homeowners along the hurricane-prone Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf Coast have done nothing to protect themselves or their homes from future storms. FEMA conducted a telephone survey of 1287 homeowners in eight Southern states and six Northern states. This survey showed that many were still unaware of how to deal with hurricane emergencies. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts an above-average hurricane season this year: 11 or more tropical storms, at least seven of which are to become hurricanes; at least three of them will be major.
Despite these predictions, 58 percent of homeowners in the South and 76 percent in the Northeast have done nothing to prepare. Other findings of the survey include: 64 percent in the South and 77 percent in the Northeast have no flood insurance; 57 percent in the South and 77 percent in the Northeast have not prepared a disaster kit; 36 percent in the South and 77 percent in the Northeast have no evacuation plan. "I don't know if they're waiting or hoping they won't get hit," Witt said. "Every year we tell people, 'don't wait until a storm is threatening to get plywood,' but it's clear they're still not doing that."
The director's dismay was quite evident at individuals who live in "at risk" areas, as well as their lack of sense, or lack of ability, to help themselves in preparing for, or avoiding, potential disasters. This is particularly exacerbated by the fact that 75 percent of disasters are flood related. Last year FEMA spent $2.9 billion just to rebuild and cleanup flood damage, and more than $200 million is spent per year on repetitive claims. "The frequency and intensity of events have been steadily increasing - we need to be smart, have good maps, and be careful where we develop," Witt asserted.
FEMA has requested Congress to fund $750 million over the next four years to update flood maps, and $134.4 million to start updating for next year. The Flood Map Modernization Program is a real priority for FEMA. "I cannot stress strongly enough the need for up-to-date maps and flood related information. Only 15 percent of the flood maps have been digitized," said Witt who recognizes that the only way to get the job done is with the use of the GeoTechnologies such as remote sensing, GIS, GPS, mapping, etc.
Witt would like to see these funds put to work on the local level. He said that the money should be distributed to local agencies who can best prioritize mapping activities, share the digital flood mapping data with other local, state and federal agencies, and ultimately put it on the Web so everyone can realize its benefits.
All of this activity and mobilization is generating unprecedented opportunities for the GeoTechnologies. Clearly, there is a trend here. Disaster related issues are rapidly becoming the "killer app" for the GeoTechnologies. The "Feds" recognize the value and importance of the information our industry produces, and they have responded by earmarking a wealth of resources and funds to address the information needs on the federal, state, and local levels.
We strive to reflect this trend. Virtually every issue of EOM has at least one application article dealing with issues related to disasters. It is undoubtedly becoming one of the most prevalent and most important applications for the GeoTechnologies. Two of the hottest GeoTechnologies which are appearing in just about every issue of EOM are LIDAR and high-resolution satellite imagery. Both are being applied to disaster situations in this issue. Robert Fowler, in his article "LIDAR for Flood Mapping," illustrates how highly accurate elevation data is crucial in flood mapping, especially in relatively flat areas where even small increases in water levels can have drastic effects.
Antithetical to flood disasters, but equally devastating to the people affected, are forest wild fires. On page 20 of this issue of EOM we have published two Space Imaging IKONOS high-resolution satellite images of the June 2000, wild fires in the Colorado foothills.
IKONOS data is becoming an indispensable information tool for myriad applications, not to mention disaster management. However, since it is such a new source of data, in the coming months and years we will see exciting new processing techniques, allowing users to fully exploit this data source to solve their problems. One of these techniques is described in "Demystification of IKONOS," by Dr. Thierry Toutin and Dr. Philip Cheng.
Although Space Imaging has not released IKONOS sensor models, the authors have devised a method to develop a rigorous IKONOS sensor model, one which will allow users to process the less expensive, less accurate "Geo" data product into highly accurate digital ortho images. This will save considerable time and money, thus allowing greater access to the data by potential users.
The uses and applications for this technology are virtually universal. It is EOM's objective to provide you with information which makes this technology more accessible and beneficial in your endeavors. I hope you enjoy this issue of EOM. Please let me know if there is any way we can make EOM more useful to you. Also, make sure to visit us on the web. We are in the process of putting every article ever published in EOM on our site at www.eomonline.com. At this time we have several hundred articles already on line, as well as the Greenbook directory, with descriptions and links to hundreds of vendors in the GeoTechnologies, and The GEMI Store - the one-stop-shop for any type of Geographic, Earth, Mapping Information. Until next time . .
Cheers!
Roland Mangold
Publisher, EOM
E-mail: [email protected]
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