Running head: CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 1

The Growing Role of Web-based Geospatial Technology in Disaster Response and Support

Critical Analysis Paper

Laura Horton

California State University Monterey Bay

Professor Tourtellotte

April 28, 2017

CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 2

Introduction

The qualitative descriptive study that I selected looks at disaster response and the use of

geospatial technologies in past events, recent events and how future responses should utilize

these tools from the lessons learned. One of the biggest game changes is the advancement of

technology and communications, it has made the world a smaller place. The purpose of the

study was to review lessons learned and to bring to light the need for facilitating volunteers to

help in emergency responses by expanding how the government, software vendors and academia

and incorporating web-based portals, crowd-sourcing and open-source data.

Research Procedures (Methods)

The research method used was the collection of historical emergency disaster response

documents which described how geospatial information and technology was used during the

specific events and the lessons learned. The objective of the qualitative descriptive study was to

summarize the historical usage of geospatial information and technology and then comment on

the timeline of changes and how it can relate to the future.

All the studies that were reviewed were events that most people remember as well as

being significant in scale. For example, the first event addressed was the Northridge Earthquake

in 1994. The author continues to follow the timeline to 2001 with the World Trade Center attack

which he states that it was one of the first major events that remote sensing imagery was used.

The timeline continues to 2004 and the Chuetsu earthquake and hurricane Katrina in 2005. After

Katrina, there was a growth in geospatial technology especially in remote sensing imagery. The

world then witnessed the Sichuan China Earthquake in 2008, Haiti and Chili also had devastating

earthquakes in 2010 and the earthquake/tsunami in Japan 2011.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 3

These studies were qualitative by nature and were appropriate for the study. Without

looking back on the history of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in emergency response

decision makers cannot learn from the past and plan. Using the historical facts validated the

timeline and showed it was reliable. All the research could be easily replicated by accessing the

historical data as shown within the timeline and lessons learned.

Research Results.

All the information collected and noted were appropriate and relevant to the study. The

hypotheses of trends were evident in the presentation of the historical facts.

The interesting result of the study was the geospatial technology timeline that was

observed. There are three stages to the growth of geospatial technology:

Web mapping and geospatial data browsing Google Maps and Google Earth as

well as others brings location based services to the public.

Web-based data exchange and development Growth of web-based geospatial

file formats such as Keyhole Markup Language (KML). This let non-GIS

professionals create and share their own spatial data using a viewer such as

Google Earth. There was also the introduction of standards for Web Map Services

(WMS) that allowed users to connect within GIS applications.

Mash-up live editing on the web The development of Web Mapping application

programming interfaces (API) that provided a way for developers to create their

own portals and mapping sites.

The other revelation is the lessons learned from all the historical responses and the direction for

the future.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 4

Discussion of Results.

The results of the study and the analysis of the historical data supports the development

of the geospatial technology timeline. The geospatial timeline breaks down the advancement of

the technology into stages which coincides with the findings set forth in the paper. For example,

Google Earth really brought to life the impact of hurricane Katrina in the news. The world could

see the before and after effects of the flooding.

The authors findings of the stages were explained using a descriptive title and thorough

explanation of what makes the stage relevant to the timeframe and used specific dates as

validation. The reader did not have to be a GIS professional to related to the explanations.

One of the other key parts of the results was the identification of importance of

government to open data to the public. Currently there are too many barriers for volunteers to

access and share data during an event. There are certain requirements due to security issues but

the reality is the more internal and external data the better. There is a way to protect personal

information and security concerns while utilizing crowdsourcing technology.

Summary.

In conclusion, the authors research regarding the methods used to utilize geospatial

technologies in emergency response supports the need to advance and grow response capabilities

in line with technology. Technology and communications continue to grow and advance faster

than consumers can keep up with. With that in mind government also needs to embrace the

concept of utilizing the average citizen to participate in public involvement and look to an open

source model. The authors recommend looking at a broader scope and including other

disciplines such as medical and engineering responders and the technologies they use in

emergency response.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS PAPER 5

Reference

Kawasaki, A., Berman, M. L., & Guan, W. (2013). The growing role of web-based geospatial

technology in disaster response and support. Disasters, 37(2), 201221.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7717.2012.01302.x