Coastal Services Center

Changes in the use of information and technology may be one of the ripple effects of September 11, 2001. The response to those tragic events included everything from the high profile use of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, to a rush by some to take information off the Internet. Coastal resource managers may find that they are not immune from the impacts of these changes, and in some cases may even be able to influence in which direction the change will flow.

"Technology is always changing," notes Paul Katzer, GIS program manager for the New York City Parks and Recreation Natural Resources Group. But as a result of the terrorist attacks, he believes "we are going to see more effective use of remote sensing technology. . . GIS tools are going to evolve so that we will see more effective integration of data from different sources, and that we will be able to more rapidly integrate these data."

He adds, "I think that coastal managers can definitely play a role in terms of developing standardized data sets."

Managers may also be called upon to provide data for national mapping projects that have stepped up in priority since the attacks. Better public understanding of the need and use of GIS and remote sensing technologies may make it easier for managers to justify and encourage their use. Sensitivity over information available on the Internet may in some cases impact information flow, and cyberspace security may need to become a higher priority.

Technology and 9/11

Mapping technology played a pivotal role in managing the response and recovery operations in New York. This fact is particularly impressive when you learn that the city's emergency management offices—where all the city's integrated GIS data were housed—were located in a building of the World Trade Center Complex that collapsed on the day of the attack.

Katzer, a member of the New York City GIS steering committee, helped lead the effort to reconstruct the city's GIS infrastructure, a job the city had initially completed in 1998. With the assistance of GIS-savvy volunteers and the donations of hardware and software, 20 work stations and six plotters were set up and manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week for seven weeks. Almost 8,000 maps were generated over the course of the operation.

The state, which had its own GIS operations, also helped support the city's efforts by hiring a contractor to provide daily airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) images, digital aerial photos, and thermal imagery, says Bill Johnson, deputy director of the Center for Geographic Information in the New York State Office for Technology.

The contracting company, EarthData International, was able to get the collection and delivery of the data—a process that normally takes several days—down to about eight hours, says Bryan Logan, the company's chief executive officer. He expects that in the event of future disasters, turnaround time will be even faster.

The maps created with geospatial information were used by emergency managers to accurately define the position of underground gas and electric lines, calculate any movement and cubic volume of all rubble piles, monitor the development or retardation of underground fires, assist in the development of structural audits of all damaged buildings, and help form the basis for developing the debris removal plan.

Stories on the use of GIS and remote sensing were featured everywhere from the New York Times to NBC's Today show. "This brought home to people what GIS and remote sensing information is all about," says Logan.

"People learned that if you have this information, and have up-to-date information, you can make better decisions, and those decisions can save lives, and can certainly help save property worth billions of dollars that could be damaged in a storm or other disaster," he says. "People are now realizing that having data that is 5, or even 3 years old is old news when you're trying to make decisions."

Fortunately, Logan says, as the technology and processing improves, the cost of imagery will come down.

Gathering National Data

Geospatial information and technology played such a vital role in the response to the terrorist attacks that several national efforts to develop data content standards and collect imagery and data to enhance decision making have been accelerated.

One of these is the 120 Cities Project, led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA). Ken Osborn, chief of mapping operations at the USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center, says the project began in 1999 by identifying the 120 U.S. cities with the largest populations and collecting imagery and vector data that could be used in the event of an emergency.

"Since September 11, we're accelerating the mapping of these areas on a priority basis," Osborn says. "What's changed is that the need is recognized. This is the type of event that makes people understand the need for mapping."

The goal now is to have some type of imagery and mapping complete for all 120 cities by the end of the year, with a complete data set for the pilot city of Boston. To accomplish this they have partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Census Bureau. USGS state liaison staff are working to inventory imagery and geospatial data from other federal, state, county, municipal, and private entities that may contribute to this effort.

"We're trying to get data that is unclassified and shareable with all the users," Osborn says. "We want this data used, and we want it used by first responders, local communities, and government agencies."

While the project emphasis is on building structures and critical infrastructures, he notes that coastal managers may have information that would be useful, such as coastal erosion and landslide data. "Coastal managers need to let us know what data they have or need that apply equally to homeland security and to accomplishing their mission."

Coastal Information

The question then becomes, do coastal managers have data or information that might be helpful in responding to an emergency? Among the coastal managers interviewed for this article, the answers range from "absolutely" to "none at all." While many have information that is valuable in responding to a hurricane or oil spill, they express concern about how helpful this data might be in the event of a terrorist attack.

"Coastal managers have everything from bathymetry to information on sensitive coastal areas to avoid to areas where it is OK to do x, y, and z things to vacant land," notes George Stafford, director of the Division of Coastal Resources for the New York Department of State. "All of that data is relevant given any number of different disasters."

"Nobody knows what the next event is going to be," says John Calkins, technical marketing specialist for ESRI. "Take any scenario and put it along the coastline and all of a sudden coastal managers have data that is incredibly valuable."

Jim Good, coastal resource specialist with Oregon Sea Grant, suggests, "As a national system, I think we need to identify what questions we should take a look at with respect to terrorism, and what information we use on a regular basis that might be useful."

Good notes that this would be helpful in determining not only where coastal managers might be able to contribute, but also to establish if any information or data provided on coastal Web sites might be useful to terrorists in planning an attack.

"I think that most of the information-gathering work done for coastal managers is not that useful for terrorism planning or the execution of terrorist acts," he says. "My concern is that access to certain kinds of coastal data may be tightened more than necessary in the name of improved security. What we need to do is start a dialogue about that."

Information Access

A tightening of access to information does appear to be happening. While there has been no government directive to remove sensitive data from the Internet, a number of federal and state organizations are scrutinizing information on their Web sites, and in some cases have removed information to keep it from aiding terrorists.

According to a November article in the Los Angeles Times, at least 15 federal agencies have pulled potentially sensitive information off the Internet, or have removed Web sites altogether. The removed material ranges from information on risk management to chemical reactors.

Francis Buckley, superintendent of documents for the Government Printing Office, says that at the request of USGS, libraries were ordered to destroy a water resources guide, the first time in memory that unclassified documents were destroyed because of security reasons.

"There is no official guidance" of what should be considered sensitive, Buckley says. "That's the problem. Right now it's a subjective judgment based on the content managers' knowledge of the information."

Cyber Security

While some information may become more burdensome to obtain, Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America, suggests that coastal managers also turn their attention to information security. He says the risk of cyberspace terrorism is increasing, and that information security improvements at many state and local governments are needed.

"More and more government agencies depend on information technology to conduct business," Miller says. "That information becomes their lifeline to carry out their duties and responsibilities to citizens and taxpayers. Very few organizations are focused on all three key elements of information security—technology, people, and processes."

He says technology, such as firewalls or antivirus software, can give people a false sense of security. "People and processes are key parts of the solution, and without them, technology is not much help."

Harris says antivirus software needs to be constantly updated and that staff should be trained in fundamental computer security, such as creating adequate passwords. For a computer system to be safe, he says, everyone needs to practice "good cyber hygiene."

Out of the Ashes

Technology, and coastal managers' reliance on it, already was on the fast track before September 11. Many managers feel that the terrorist attacks may have accelerated that process, providing new opportunities, as well as challenges.

"Technology is advancing or has advanced to the point that it's going to enable the coastal management community to be in a more proactive position to prepare responses to events, be they terrorist attacks or natural disturbances, such as storms," says Mike De Luca, manager of the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve at Mullica River-Great Bay in New Jersey. "The struggle against terrorism has many fronts, and science and technology pervade them all."

For more information on the 120 Cities Project, contact your state USGS liaison, or Ken Osborn at (303) 202-4138 or kjosborn@usgs.gov. For more information on New York City's use of GIS and remote sensing, contact Paul Katzer at (212) 360-2749 or paul.katzer@parks.nyc.gov. To view remote sensing data collected over New York, point your browser to www.ny.earthdata.com.