Integrated sensing and command and control system for disaster response

Abstract

Emergency responders fighting blazes and flooding, law enforcement securing sites and crowds, and medical teams treating victims are typical scenarios during rapidly-evolving, catastrophic events. The larger the disaster, the more complicated becomes the situation as thousands of responders from hundreds of organizations participate in the response and relief efforts. Organizing, coordinating and commanding these efforts remains a significant technical challenge, as it requires timely collection and distribution of information under harsh environments. With guidance from operational partners in California's emergency response community, we have designed, implemented and demonstrated a prototype integrated sensing and command and control system that enables shared situational awareness and collaboration during response operations. The system architecture is based on net-centric and service-oriented paradigms, and combines sensors, communications, and visualization and collaboration technologies, with all components being linked in (near) real-time. The utility of this prototype system was evaluated through a field exercise that tested the technical performance of the system and assessed the impact of new technologies on current concept of operations. In this paper, we describe the design analysis, system architecture, core enabling technologies, and the field evaluations.