Over time, GIS (geographic information systems) have risen in utility and prominence in the field of homeland security as well as many associated fields including emergency management, criminal justice, intelligence, public administration, and public health. This book serves the need as a text for homeland security GIS courses as well as a guide for employed homeland security professionals who need to apply GIS to multiple domains and varied threat landscapes.
The book presents a practical lessons format organized around the all-hazards (natural, accidental, and intentional) threat landscape and builds on the most recent Department of Homeland Security policy guidance, i.e. the Resilience Agenda. The general structure of the book reviews a form of hazard, outlines specific homeland security policies and operations associated with the hazard, and instruct how to use GIS for a particular homeland security application. Included in the book are labs in which GIS is used to address scenarios from an all-hazards framework showing how to use GIS in different phases of homeland security operations, such as planning and response. Operations are framed based on the hazard, and GIS is used in labs to achieve operational goals.
