The City has been using Geographic Information Systems since the mid 70’s, primarily for its public safety services. Digital mapping technology was added during the 80’s and internet accessibility during the late 90’s. GPS (Global Positioning System) technology is now a part of the City GIS. Field GPS units are used to accurately document the locations of both moving (vehicular) and stationary (flood damage, infrastructure assets) objects. Michael handles the interface between GPS and the City’s GIS. Joe Chapa, Assistant Director of GIS for the City, was part of the Value Jet recovery, Hurricane Andrew clean-up and tornado recovery efforts in Florida. Joe is well-versed in the benefits of using GIS for disaster recovery and was quick to recommend Michael for the task.

Michael spent multiple long days assisting the recovery efforts. His first day was spent cold and wet in the field documenting debris locations. The biggest piece he found was 3 feet long but he also found pieces of tile the size of his thumbnail. Wednesday night, during a casual conversation with FRI, he mentioned that he was a GIS analyst. Within minutes, he was in front of a PC producing maps!

The debris search area was 200+ miles long and directly impacted at least 10 counties. GPS coordinates for found debris and 9-1-1 calls were analyzed to develop the search vector, which was then used to direct recovery teams to the areas where debris was most likely to be found.

Politics and egos were virtually non-existent among the people he worked with, according to Michael, as the GIS team provided maps non-stop to the FBI, NASA, Civil Air Patrol, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and other local, state and federal agencies. “We saw a need and filled it”. Post-event satellite imagery was made available to FRI. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) released data of immense value to the Civil Air Patrol, which used the maps for their 15 aircraft doing low-level reconnaissance. The GIS team started producing maps one hour after Columbia was lost — “It was an awesome team effort”.

FRI, a regional GIS node in a rural, heavily forested area, uses an SGI server with 100 gigabytes of RAM and 4 terabytes of storage. Unix and Windows 2000 workstations were used to keep 2 HP plotters and 3 printers constantly busy for Columbia search teams. ESRI’s ArcGIS 8.2 was used for all GIS analysis and the map production. Three remote GIS laboratories were eventually set up.

Michael was dispatched to Hemphill, TX, in order to establish the third lab, which supported the divers searching the Toledo Bend Reservoir. John Conte and Rich Horn from the San Antonio Police Department GIS office were sent to assist.

Michael summarizes his 18 hour–average days: 

And the giving continues as he works with the FAA to revise its data sets in preparation for future disaster needs. He never did use his tent but instead stayed in a private home and then later a motel. The Red Cross provided food and local eateries made food available at below-cost prices. Michael’s parents helped by bringing him fresh clothes and providing a much appreciated home-cooked meal for GIS team members. It took another week after Michael’s return to San Antonio to adapt back to “normal”. In all he lost seven pounds and gained 100 years of life experience.

(For an interesting and understandable explanation of GPS technology, see Trimble.com).