Mobile GIS for Homeland Security

The information contained in this document is the exclusive property of ESRI. This work is protected under United States copyright law and other international copyright treaties and conventions. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as expressly permitted in writing by ESRI. All requests should be sent to The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners. Executive Summary Whether the mission is homeland security or public safety, remote access to information is absolutely essential and critical. The ability to provide location-based services (LBS) in a mobile environment requires a subsystem of device interfaces, location-enabled hardware such as GPS chips, software applications, and application servers designed to capture, store, mine, and consume spatially referenced data including telemetry and radio-frequency identification (RFID) technologies. A complete end-to-end location-based mobility solution involves three elements: geographic information system (GIS) technology, position tracking, and visualization. The combination of all three elements is the chemistry for situational awareness. GIS provides specialized processing power for the acquisition, retention, access, and analysis of geographic and spatially referenced data. GIS is the core of knowledge for a location-based service solution because it manages and serves data relative to the surrounding environment such as addresses, streets, areas of interest, risks, and hazards. Position tracking is a critical element in LBS. A basic element of intelligence is the knowledge or awareness of location, and knowing where you are is the basis of understanding your surroundings. In a mobile environment there are essentially two forms of location tracking, automatic and manual. Automatic location tracking is a systematic process of the mobile device and the wireless network using either GPS or cellular tower triangulation. Position tracking also includes RFID and telemetry technologies. RFID is often used to track information on objects, such as shipping containers, hazardous materials, or sensitive cargo, and their whereabouts. Telemetry provides the ability to track position as well as package data from I/O sources such as vehicle computer buses to monitor critical sensors including emergency …