Successful response starts with a map : improving geospatial support for disaster management / Committee on Planning for Catastrophe: a Blueprint for Improving Geospatial Data, Tools, and Infrastructure, Mapping Science Committee, Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, Division on Earth and Life Studies, National Research Council of the National Academies.

Includes bibliographical references.

Thinking About Worst Cases: Real and Hypothetical Examples -- Emergency Management Framework -- The Challenge: Providing Geospatial Data, Tools, and Information Where and When They Are Needed -- Guidelines for Geospatial Preparedness -- Concluding Comments: Looking to the Future.

"This study is about one type of information technology and the role it plays in emergency management. Geospatial data describe the locations of things on the Earth?s surface, and geospatial tools manipulate such data to create useful products. Thus, this report is about the maps that are an essential part of search-and-rescue operations, about the GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers that allow first responders to locate damaged buildings or injured residents, about images that are captured from aircraft to provide the first comprehensive picture of an event?s impact, about road maps that form the basis of evacuation planning, and about all of the other information connected to a location that can be used in emergency management." -- p. 1.