Tradecraft

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This section of the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE) geospatial Concept of Operations (GeoCONOPS) is dedicated to promoting the geospatial tradecraft, professional development, and building a stronger community of interest across industry, academia, government, professional organizations and individual stakeholders. The goal is to advance education, training, and skill development to broaden, and optimize, the utility and value of geospatial across the homeland security enterprise. The section consists of training, operating procedures, capability assessment tools, templates, and other resources that are available to the community to advance the tradecraft by developing an agile, expert and diverse workforce that delivers mission-oriented results.

From Maps to Models (NAS Report)

Overview:
The United States faces numerous, varied, and evolving threats to national security, including terrorism, scarcity and disruption of food and water supplies, extreme weather events, and regional conflicts around the world. Effectively managing these threats requires intelligence that not only assesses what is happening now, but that also anticipates potential future threats. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is responsible for providing geospatial intelligence on other countries—assessing where exactly something is, what it is, and why it is important—in support of national security, disaster response, and humanitarian assistance. NGA’s approach today relies heavily on imagery analysis and mapping, which provide an assessment of current and past conditions. However, augmenting that approach with a strong modeling capability would enable NGA to also anticipate and explore future outcomes.
Agency: NAS
Contact Info:
URL: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23650/from-maps-to-models-augmenting-the-nations-geospatial-intelligence-capabilities

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

Overview:
Part of the NGP, the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal and national standard for geographic nomenclature for the nation.
Agency: USGS
Contact Info: gnis_manager@usgs.gov
URL: http://geonames.usgs.gov/domestic/

Geospatial Considerations of Public Safety Alerts, Warnings and Notifications (AWN)

Overview:
This Alerts, Warnings, and Notifications (AWN) description is intended to inform and connect three various sets of stakeholders: Public safety officials (e.g., emergency managers, alerting authorities/originators); Hazard modeling agencies, whose technologies are sources of critical information; and the Geospatial community, the experts in making available information that is specific for targeted geographic locations.
Agency: DHS - S&T
Contact Info:
URL: https://communities.geoplatform.gov/geoconops/2018/09/01/geospatial-considerations-of-public-safety-alerts-warnings-and-notifications/

Geospatial Information Infrastructure (GII) Portal User Guide

Overview:
The GII Portal allows GIS practitioners of all levels to search and discover geospatial content and use this data to create web maps that can be saved and shared with other users. For those unfamiliar with the GII Portal, the user guide provides instruction on such functions as searching for and adding data, creating a web map, connecting the GII Portal to your desktop GIS, creating web applications, creating story maps, and sharing with others.
Agency: DHS
Contact Info: GMO@hq.dhs.gov
URL: https://gii.dhs.gov/PortalUG/UserGuide.pdf

Geospatial Interoperability Reference Architecture (GIRA)

Overview:
The Geospatial Interoperability Reference Architecture (GIRA) is aligned with current Federal policy, principles, and practices for Enterprise Architecture and further adds to the authoritative body of knowledge of geospatial architecture documentation. It is an unclassified document aimed at an audience consisting of; Executive Leaders, Program Managers, and Solution Architects across Federal, State, Local, Territorial and Tribal governments and private sector stakeholders. It is intended to be a practical roadmap to increase government geospatial information sharing through interoperable capabilities that result in reduced operational costs within and across mission systems. It documents geospatial and architecture policy alignment, references authoritative practices and provides practical guidance including; templates, charters, exchange agreements, baseline requirements matrices, architecture artifacts and tools.
Agency: DHS, ODNI, PM-ISE
Contact Info:
URL: http://www.asprs.org/Certification-Program.html

Geospatial Resources at EPA

Overview:
EPA's National Geospatial Program coordinates the Agency's geospatial data, applications, policies and programs. This website provides an overview of EPA’s geospatial resources.
Agency: EPA
Contact Info: greene.ana@epa.gov
URL: https://www.epa.gov/geospatial

Geospatial Standard Operating Guides (SOG)

Overview:
NAPSG makes available a suite of Geospatial Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Templates that provide a set of guidelines for coordinating geospatial emergency response efforts. These guidelines are intended to serve as a shared foundation, encouraging improved communication and collaboration amongs GIS and other emergency management staff preparing for and responding to incidents. Incident-specific SOPs are available for Tornado, Coastal Storms, Wildfire, and Oil Spills.
Agency: NAPSG
Contact Info:
URL: http://www.napsgfoundation.org/all-resources/standard-operating-guide-templates/

Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings (NAS Report)

Overview:
Geotargeted Alerts and Warnings: Report of a Workshop on Current Knowledge and Research Gaps is the summary of a February, 2013 workshop convened by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board of the National Research Council to examine precise geotargeting of public alerts and warnings using social media. The workshop brought together social science researchers, technologists, emergency management professionals, and other experts to explore what is known about how the public responds to geotargeted alerts and warnings, technologies and techniques for enhancing the geotargeting of alerts and warnings, and open research questions about how to effectively use geotargeted alerts and warnings and technology gaps. This report considers the potential for more precise geographical targeting to improve the effectiveness of disaster alerts and warnings; examines the opportunities presented by current and emerging technologies to create, deliver, and display alerts and warnings with greater geographical precision; considers the circumstances where more granular targeting would be useful; and examines the potential roles of federal, state, and local agencies and private sector information and communications providers in delivering more targeted alerts.
Agency:
Contact Info:
URL: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18414/geotargeted-alerts-and-warnings-report-of-a-workshop-on-current

GIS Specialist Training

Overview:
Sponsored by the NWCG Geospatial Sub Committee (GSC), this page is meant to inform wildland fire incident GIS resource personnel about the status of topics impacting the 2019 fire season. The target audience is GISS, GISS-T, SITL and other incident positions interested in 2019 GIS issues.
Agency: NWCG
Contact Info:
URL: https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/training-courses/s-341

Graduate Program in Homeland Security

Overview:
The graduate program offers a Master of Science degree in Homeland Security and takes advantage of the "living laboratory" of the San Diego-Baja border region offering unique learning and research opportunities. Courses with geospatial focus are offered and students have access to San Diego State's Visualization Center which specializes in organizing and delivering geospatial data for emergency response and disasters.
Agency: SDSU
Contact Info: 619-594-5960
URL: http://homelandsecurity.sdsu.edu/

Updated on October 5, 2020