CaGIS/ASPRS 2013 Specialty Conference

Spatial Emergency Preparedness & Response: From the Individual to the Global Community

San Antonio, Texas  *  October 27 - 31, 2013  *  Crowne Plaza San Antonio Riverwalk Hotel

The Cartography and Geographic Information Society (CaGIS) and the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ASPRS) will join together to co-host the CaGIS/ASPRS 2013 Specialty Conference in San Antonio, Texas!

The Conference theme, Spatial Emergency Preparedness and Response:  From the Individual to the Global Community, asks the critical emergency prepardness questions such as:

• Where did the event occur?
• Where are people in relation to the event?  
• How fast/far/in what direction is the event moving?
• Where and by what route can people (and animals, supplies, relief workers, and aid) come into or leave the area of an event?

The critical component necessary to answer all of these questions is accurate, current geospatial information.  This information can take many forms and can be used in just as many ways.  Providers of the information are also highly varied from sophisticated commercial satellite imagery providers to individual citizens with cell phones.

This conference will explore the wide range of tools, technology, and applications employed to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies of local, national, and global scales.

Key conference themes/topics:

• Humanitarian GIS/volunteered geographic information/citizen science/social media
• The role of commercial, licensed imagery and data in emergency response
• GIS preparedness from a community, national, and international perspective (city/county government; national (DHS, NGA); Red Cross, OSM, Tsunami Warning System, Global Seismic Network)
• Emergency Response applications/examples – what works, what doesn’t
• The role of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in emergency response.
• The role of sensor networks in emergency detection and response (GEOSS)
• Is there still a role for a paper map? What maps are people using in the field in emergency response situations?
• Coordinate systems and emergency response: where am I?
• Visual analytic solutions for preparing and responding to emergencies

Join us in San Antonio!