Exercise Planner - Hazard Explorer

Integrating GIS Into the Exercise Planning Process

When developing an exercise, there are some basics steps to ensure your organization is designing an exercise around real-world hazards and impacts. GIS is more than a tool for displaying the area impacted by a given scenario in an Exercise Situation Manual. The best exercise scenarios utilize geospatial analysis capabilities to plan realistic scenarios that impact people and infrastructure and test local resources driving the preparedness activities of the community.

Below is a brief summary of the key steps for integrating GIS into Exercises.

  • Use a tool like the Hazard Explorer Tool to understand your exposure to hazards and their potential impact in an area.
  • By identifying your hazards and potential impacts you can inform planning efforts and begin to prioritize preparedness exercise scenarios. 
  • After selecting the hazard (flood, hazardous materials release, landslide, etc.), begin narrowing your area potentially based on both total and vulnerable populations impacted.
  • Lastly, view critical infrastructure such as Community Lifelines, Emergency Services, Mass Transportation and other Community Resources to further refine your scenario.
  • These factors, vulnerable populations and critical infrastructure, are critical inputs to the exercise planning and scenario development process.

Community Lifelines

The National Response Framework (NRF) Fourth Edition incorporates lessons learned from the unprecedented 2017 hurricane and wildfire season. The NRF update emphasizes the stabilization of critical lifelines and coordination across the critical infrastructure sectors which provide an indispensable service in response. Planning for and exercising against the lifelines construct before disaster strikes will assist decision-makers in the prioritization, sequence, and focus of response efforts for restoring the most critical services and infrastructure.

View or save a copy of sample maps by lifeline sector to get started.

  • Safety and Security
  • Energy (Power and Fuel)
  • Communications
  • Transportation
  • Food, Water, Sheltering
  • Hazardous Waste
  • Health and Medical
Emergency Support Functions

Relevant data varies by ESF. If necessary, consult with the groups that will be participating to determine the information needs they would typically have during the given scenario. Below are examples and resources to get you started but is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Local geographies and jurisdictional responsibilities will also drive data requirements.

 

Various modeling resources and assistance exist, when necessary, for supporting hazard and impact analysis. The Modeling and Data Inventory is an effort led by FEMA and the Modeling and Data Working Group (MDWG). The MDWG was appointed by the Emergency Support Function Leadership Group (ESFLG) to identify and characterize the models used to support operational decision making in the context of emergency management.

After selecting the scenario location and identifying data and/or modeling needs, determine what GIS data is available by local resources. Many state, local tribal, and territorial entities generate and regularly maintain a wide variety of GIS datasets. A growing number of these entities are sharing this data in a number of formats on free publicly available open data sites.

If you are unsure about what data exists, start with your state. Use the interactive State Open Data Sites map below to search by state. Many more datasets likely exist beyond what is hosted publicly and may be made available upon request. At the bottom of the page are additional data resources available should gaps remain.