Australia

[Steven...@blm.gov]

I saw this posting on the They Said site from Wildlandfire.com

Mobile Mapping Technology Advancements in Australia:
R5 Dispatcher,

It's similar to Firewatch only in that Firewatch can export
shapefiles. It takes a lot of bandwidth to Tx/Rc video footage. We're
dealing in kilobytes only. We wanted to use something compatible with
ArcGIS which is what most agencies use to map wildfires so we went
with a PDA with built-in GPS, digital camera and running ArcPad mobile
mapping software. Version 8, which should be released this week,
allows you to synchronize to a server. We connected through the
Telstra cellular network, but could easily transmit perimeter data and
forms used to collect damage assessment information, or in this case,
search results for human remains along with digital photos. Data can
also be sent through a Wi-Fi connection or SATphone in wilderness
areas.

Once the data reaches the server (within about a second), it is
automatically processed and placed on a map which is viewable by all
the agencies through the Internet. The firefighter/officer in the
field only has to tap on the "Synchronize" button to make it happen.
No knowledge of GIS is required. Until March 4th, search crews have
been carrying binders full of green forms for residences, yellow forms
for outbuildings, vehicles, mine shafts etc. They would take
georeferenced photos using the Ricoh camera and turn in mounds of
paperwork at the end of the shift. Some days the teams cleared over
125 properties and someone would drive all the way up from Melbourne
at night to collect the forms and change out the SD cards in the
cameras. The results were not mapped by the GIS Specialists until the
following day by the time they drove back to the Rescue Coordination
Center.

The PDA contains the same forms in ArcPad. Knowing which parcel you're
standing in when all the street signs, mailboxes and landmarks have
been burned away is easy by simply turning on GPS and the parcel
information immediately populates the address, owner and PCI fields on
the form as well as displaying your correct location on the parcel
layer draped over a topo map on the screen (see attached). We're using
the rugged Motorola MC-75 model PDA and the not-so-rugged-but-more-
affordable Trimble JUNO SC model because they have fast processors and
SIM card slots. The devices can also be used as a cell-phone and
you'll look stylishly fashionable as a Fire Geek just like me!

The main reason we're so excited is not only in the speed we can
provide decision makers the critical information they need, but the
fact that the officers have been teaching each other how to collect
the data and use the devices. Most of them have never held a PDA
before during a disaster response and have no GIS experience. I'm
hoping that the myth of mobile GIS being too complicated or expensive
to use on the fireline will go away now that the Aussies have used it
to document their most devastating natural disaster. We plan to use
the PDA's exclusively next week when we return to search Marysville
Everyone will appreciate only having to carry one device that does it
all.

I can't give you access to the map server we're using, but here is a
link to a similar damage assessment on-line resource server used by
Santa Barbara County during the Tea Fire: https://geoaccess.co.santa-barbara.ca.us/teafirerecovery/
(takes a while to access on my computer. Ab.)

That Tea Fire information wasn't available to the damage assessment
teams until a week after the fire was contained. Just think of the
possibilities of knowing we can share information through a cell-
phone connection in real-time during initial attack. I was sitting
under some gum trees and could access the updated database on my
laptop. Of course it would have been easier just to stand up and walk
10 feet to where the officer was standing, but it was exciting that he
sent the information simply by

tapping the screen on a handheld PDA and
it travelled to a server located in Melbourne that
I was connected to on my notebook from 96 km away!
This is a big deal! Would be much better if it were not in the middle
of such a tragic event.

Fire Geek



Mobile Mapping Technology Advancements in Australia and the US:
Fire Geek,

Thanks for the info. It is a big thing, and a wonderful thing also. We
are working with the Coulsons Martin Mars for the summer and there
will also be a Helicopter being the Bird Dog this year. On the
helicopter will be a Real Time Tech (RTT) unit. It does so much, it's
hard to tell you exactly. Still not completely finished on the exactly
what it will be doing.

It originally started as a monitoring unit for the Mars, like last
year; now it will be used to evaluate the Mars. The Fire Watch program
is doing full motion video real time, to the GIS unit in its van. So
it is great to see all the advances in GIS and RTT tech.

We still must all remember, though, it's the folks on the ground and
Mother Nature who put the fire out. These tools will hopefully help us
save lives and property and get the fire out faster.

Thanks again for the info.

R5 Dispatcher