A geospatial integrated problem solving environment for Homeland Security applications

Effective planning, response, and recovery (PRR) involving terrorist attacks or natural disasters come with a vast array of information needs. Much of the required information originates from disparate sources in widely differing formats. However, one common attribute the information often possesses is physical location. The organization and visualization of this information can be critical to the success of the PRR mission. Organizing information geospatially is often the most intuitive for the user. In the course of developing a field tool for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Bombing Prevention, a geospatial integrated problem solving environment software framework was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This framework has proven useful as well in a number of other DHS, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy projects. An overview of the software architecture along with application examples are presented.