VA for Emergency Management

Visual analytics, "the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by the interactive visual interface", seeks to develop an evidence-based approach to the design and evaluation of cognitive systems comprising one or more human decision-makers supported by advanced information and communication technology. We apply the VA approach to emergency management and preparedness. For emergency preparedness we support analysis and evaluation of risk and vulnerability, including novel threats (e.g. terrorism) and innovative approaches to preventing and countering them. For emergency response we implement technology to support a robust "system-of-systems" approach to interoperability. For both we examine the impact of changes in information technology (e.g. social software, sensor technologies) and how they might be utilized to support (or if not controlled, may impair) emergency preparedness and response. We will address four aspects:

1. Graphical visualizations that combine raw data about emergency situations and management activities with computational, statistical and mathematical models of events.
2. Interaction methods for these mixed-initiative visualization systems that enable co-located and distributed multifunctional teams to analyze situations and coordinate their activities in real time.
3. Scientific investigation of how VA technologies effect human cognitive and communicative processes, for system design and customization for individual users, organizations, roles and tasks.
4. Technology integration studies that insure that our scientific findings, technologies and analytical methods are relevant and effective for their target users, organizations, and conditions of use in real-world emergency management situations.

A presentation about one of the cross-border "experiements" we participated in is here:

Principal Investigator: Brian Fisher

Co-investigators: Peter Borwein, Mark Blair, John Dill, and Pourang Irani (U. Manitoba)

Industry Partners: EmerGeo Solutions, MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates, SMT Research Ltd., Smart Technologies, Solace Systems.

External collaborators: Alan MacEachren (Penn State) David Ebert, (Purdue), Mark Haselkorn (U. Washington). William Ribarsky (UNCC)With the support of the Public Security Technical Program of Canada and the US Department of Homeland Security