Lesson: Prepare for Search and Rescue Incidents | Learn ArcGIS  After a few years of teaching how to deploy MapSAR Online, Alix Vezina‌ and I decided it was time to open up the no-cost training to a much wider audience.  In this lesson, you'll create a web map to prepare data for search operations. Your map will contain static base data showing regional boundaries and key features, as well as editable layers that can be changed as an incident develops. Then, you'll use the map to create a web app that even non-GIS professionals can use. Finally, you'll use the app to track a fictional SAR mission. We worked with the Learn ArcGIS team to produce a lesson that walks you through the following steps: Create a map Create and configure a web map with base and incident data. 30 minutes Create an app Create and configure a web app with tools to support search operations. 1 hour 15 minutes Map a search operation Use the app to map a fictitious search and rescue operation as it happens. 1 hour 15 minutes This will give a GIS professional a basic understanding of search and rescue OR a SAR professional a basic overview of how ArcGIS Online works. The app you create is using Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS‌. Here is an older video on how the app works (needs an update but will give you a general idea of the approach) Introduction to MapSAR Online (for SARGIS) - YouTube  We plan to do follow up blog posts on topics: - Integration with ArcGIS Pro (including GitHub - dferguso/MapSAR_Pro: ArcGIS Pro template for Search and Rescue ) - Integration with Survey123 for ArcGIS‌ - Integration with SARTopo - Archiving Incidents  - Spatial Analysis - +More ... View more

Real-world Problem: After disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. search and rescue teams employ wide-area search techniques. In a wide-area search, it is important to be able to assign areas to teams to search every house and road. However, it is difficult to actually assess the search progress in a quantitative way.  Technical Problem Part I: We would like to count the number of buildings that have been searched in an area by using looking at the number of buildings that do/do not have a waypoint on them (from Survey123).  We have figured out how to count buildings so far using this very handy expression... var itemID = 'bb69f10baf334d4c935a0fb23d758f38' var prtl = Portal("https://www.arcgis.com") var buildings = FeatureSetByPortalItem(prtl,itemID, 0) var countBuildings = Count(Intersects(buildings,$feature)) return countBuildings but we still need to count the number of waypoints that fall on top of a building... Part II: We would like to count the number of streets that have been searched in an area by the number of roads that do/do not have any tracks on them (from QuickCapture). Before we go any further we wanted to check with the GeoNet Community to see if someone has already done something similar.  Testing web map: https://arcg.is/XaLmD  More context: SARGIS  Screenshot  Ed Cook‌  ... View more

I am trying to calculate the time it would take for a search and rescue professional to walk an open field in a grid pattern. What would be the best way to go about this? Network Analyst? A walk time map seems to default to streets so that is not an option. Thanks.  ... View more

Access the Podcast: GIS in Urban Search and Rescue – Mapping Technology in Public Safety  Mapping Tech in Public Safety interviewed Chief John Morrison with the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department and Battalion Chief Ry Kendrick with the Fairfax County Fire Department.  Both are members of the Virginia Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 1 (see bios below).  We discussed practical uses of mapping in public safety and talked about a lot of John’s and Ry’s experience using mapping in USAR from Puerto Rico to Nepal.  Many of the key takeaways from our discussion include: Need access to a lot of data but need to view it in an actionable and focused way Need to have a quick turn around when requesting mapping Keep things simple and portable when possible Drill and train on the GIS and map resources before you use them in real life ... View more

Learn how state and federal USAR teams use GIS and mobile applications to collect real-time data for hurricane response. ... View more