Enterprise Application Integration

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Enterprise Application Integration Utilizing GIS
Spatial Databases
IDS Emergency Management 2004 June 28,
2004 Stuart Rich SGCi SGCi Penobscot Bay Media
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Welcome
The applications of GIS and software application
integration in emergency management are myriad.
Dispatch centers are usual places for such
applications, but it is becoming more common if
the world of responders as well. Often the best
solution is adapting an application created for
one purpose and applying that to another. The
following are some examples to show what is
possible in the arena of integrated applications
that may have some cross-over value for emergency
management as well.
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Introduction
At SGCi Penobscot Bay Media, one of our
specialties is developing custom applications
that integrate business databases with Geographic
Information Systems (GIS). Our development staff
has experience with Oracle, MS SQL Server, and
IBM DB2 and we are developer partners with
Oracle, Microsoft and IBM. We are also ESRI
Business Partners with specific expertise with
ArcSDE, ArcInfo 8, ArcObjects, ArcIMS, and
ArcPad. This blend of database and GIS
capabilities makes us uniquely qualified to
create custom applications that blend the two
technologies to help our clients solve their
business problems.
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Almost all of the business information that we
deal with on a day to day basis has some sort of
a geographic dimension to it. Customers have
business addresses, invoices have shipping
addresses, tenants have physical building space
requirements. Often, the geographic relationships
between these entities have significant
operational implications. Customer addresses
affect shipping charges and the routing of
delivery vehicles. The location of available
space makes it more or less desirable to a
potential tenant. The position of a parcel in a
particular planning zone may impact its current
use or its development potential. There is a
clear need to analyze the geographic
relationships that exist within our business data.
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Unfortunately, many of our business data
structures are relatively complex. A Customer
may have many Invoices which have many Line
Items. A Well may have many Samples which have
many Contaminants for each Sample. These complex
data structures do not translate well to a
geographic data model which is inherently flat.
In order to blend the two data models into a
single application, custom programming is
required. To demonstrate these hybrid
applications, we will show some of the work that
we have done for the Maine Department of
Environmental Protection.
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SGCi Penobscot Bay Media Marine Oil Spill
Information System Demo
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Marine Oil Spill Information System (MOSIS)
MOSIS consists of a pre-assembled set of
environmental data store in ArcSDE on the mobile
data server and a set of cartographic automation
tools. These tools allow MDEP GIS analysts to
start creating response logistics maps with
consistent cartography and symbology within
minutes of arriving at the command center. By
utilizing the versioning capabilities in the
ArcGIS Geodatabase, the analysts are able to save
historic versions of the spill event for review
and operational analysis after the event is over.

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Because the system is deployed on the Citrix
application server, additional analysts (up to 12
concurrent users) can be added to the system
immediately without any software installation
requirements other than the Citrix client. This
capability allows the GIS response team to scale
up very quickly with very little systems
administration overhead.
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The Solution
Because of the rural nature of Maine, there is no
wireless or cellular coverage in much of rural
Maine for which MDEP is responsible. Our
solution had to be a self-contained deployment
that allowed the responders to have a complete
copy of the relevant MDEP databases and their
Enterprise GIS that traveled with them in their
response vehicles. Our custom application
utilized Oracle advanced replication, ArcSDE,
ArcObjects, and Borland Delphi to create a fully
independent mobile deployment for response
personnel in four regional offices around the
state of Maine.
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MOSIS starts out with a template of
pre-symbolized base map layers.
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When a new spill event is created (1), the user
is prompted for some limited metadata about the
spill event.(2)
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A number of new custom feature classes are then
automatically created in the Enterprise
Geodatabase (1) and versioned for editing. All
of these feature classes are specific to a
particular spill event so that they can be
analyzed separately.
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The analyst can then use ArcGIS and a few other
custom tools to add new features to the map,
import NOAA trajectory models, model plume
movements, save historic versions and print map
atlases.
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Distinctive Features

• The following features represent leading edge
  technology for the MOSIS application
• Automatic creation of versioned custom feature
  classes
• Citrix deployment of the mobile application
  server for scalabilitya
• Automation of ArcGIS versioning

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Conclusion
Geography is often a determining factor in many
of our daily business decisions. In this
particular case, response logistics maps are a
mission critical component of marine oil spill
response. The software foundations provided by
ArcGIS and Oracle and Citrix have allowed us to
create a custom application for MDEP that not
only integrates GIS with other business database
information, but also deploys that integrated
information into the field in a way that all
parties have access to the most up-to-date
information and applications currently available.
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SGCi Penobscot Bay Media Query Builder Demo
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Query Builder
Usually, applications that integrate geographic
and business data are focused on a particular
business problem and work flow. In these
situations, a work flow specific data form such
as the one we built for the Quarterly Monitoring
Program are the most appropriate solution. In
other instances, however, where the users are
quite sophisticated and the nature of their
complex and unpredictable, a more flexible
solution is required. For these situations we
created a generic query builder for the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP).
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This application was created as a custom
extension to ESRI ArcGIS 8.2 A custom query
builder has been created to allow users to link
their geographic and business data with ad hoc
queries.
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The user is presented with an ad hoc query
builder tool. Any field from the data model (1)
can be dragged onto the query (2). Filters,
calculations, etc can be added to each field.
When the user is finished, she executes the
query. (3)
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The results from this query are then represented
both on the map (1) and in an associated data
form (2). In this case, several attributes have
been reported for each well point.
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To support the symbolization of multiple values
for each point, we have created a 5-part compound
user-defined symbol. Each segment of the pie (1)
represents one value. By clicking on the
segment, the user can define its symbology.
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Here the user can define the color ramp, value
breaks, and any patterns that she wishes to be
applied to this segment of the compound symbol.
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The resulting compound symbol represents up to
five separate values for the same point in a
single symbol.
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Conclusion
By extending ArcGIS with a generic query builder,
sophisticated users can create ad hoc queries to
explore the geographic relationships that exist
within their business data. In this example, the
business data and the geographic data are stored
in separate Oracle instances. This same
architecture could easily be applied to any of
the major database platforms including MS SQL
Server, IBM DB2, or Informix. The more
interesting challenge is adapting thistechnology
to solve your specific businessproblems.
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SGCi Penobscot Bay Media Quarterly Monitoring Demo
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Quarterly Monitoring Program
One of the programs of the Maine Department of
Environmental Protection (MDEP) monitors wells on
a regular basis for possible groundwater
contamination. The Groundwater database that
stores the information about wells, samples,
contaminants, owners, etc. is a large complex
database consisting of 70 inter-related
tables. Geologists and Hydrologists from MDEP
needed a tool to investigate the spatial
relationships between the data in their
groundwater database. This tool would help them
better understand contamination trends and
estimate plume movement over time.
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This application was created as a custom
extension to ESRI ArcGIS 8.2 Each green dot that
you see is a well being monitored for groundwater
contamination.
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The hydrologist will use the selection tool (1)
to select the wells that he is interested in.
(2) He then clicks the Data Form button to see
the groundwater data for the selected wells. (3)
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A data form is then displayed that presents all
of the groundwater data that is available for the
selected wells.
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The user can then select the individual well that
he is interested in viewing more detailed
information on and view all of the related
groundwater data.
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Including a graph of user selected contaminants
over time.
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Conclusion
By extending ArcGIS with custom, database
specific data forms, we can create integrated
applications that allow users to explore the
geographic relationships that exist within their
problem specific business databases. In this
example, the business data and the geographic
data are stored in separate Oracle instances.
This same architecture could easily be applied to
any of the major database platforms including MS
SQL Server, IBM DB2, or Informix. The more
interesting challenge is adapting thistechnology
to solve your specific businessproblems.
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SGCi Penobscot Bay Media
Skill Search
Application Demo
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Case Study
The geographic location of a given asset has a
direct impact on its value to an organization.
This premise underlies an application we
developed for a large construction firm
specializing in heavy industrial projects across
a dozen states employing a staff of nearly
2,500. The geographic extent of operations
provide many staffing challenges. Old methods
resulted in increased travel costs as personnel
might be assigned to projects many hours from
home even when qualified workers were available
nearby.
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Case Study (continued)
No tools existed to make fast, reliable
evaluations about the proximity of skilled
workers to a given job site. Staffing personnel
needed an application that could assist them in
finding qualified workers for jobs that were
within a reasonable drive of the job site.
Furthermore, this application needed to be
available to staffing personnel at job sites
around the country, not just in the home office.
Skill Search
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Skill Search
Skill Search is a Web-based application that
empowers staffing decision makers to make optimal
use of any organizations geographically
diverse workforce.
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Skill Search begins by prompting the user for the
skills, training, education, and geographic
proximity required for an assignment.
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Skill Search then creates a list of qualified
candidates (1) locates each candidate on the map
(2) locates the job site on the map (3). The
user can interact with the map to explore
associated business data about each worker or job
site.
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A worker information page displays the associated
business data to assist in that staffing
decision. A map illustrates the best route from
the employees home to the job site.
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To reduce confusion, tardiness and worker
frustration, the map also includes turn by turn
directions from their home to the job site with
mileage and estimated travel time.
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Distinctive Features

• Skill Search showcases leading-edge technology,
  advanced integration and sophisticated data
  queries
• ArcGIS 8.3 the gold-standard in GIS software
• Integration of GIS with business/personnel data
• ArcIMS deployment of interactive mapping and
  custom routing capabilities
• Map hotlinks to the business/personnel databases

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Conclusion
Geography plays an important role in many
business decisions. In our example, assigning
the appropriate employee to a job site can help
the company realize tangible, bottom-line
benefits by decreasing travel costs. In an EMS
context, the same application can be adapted to
provide near-real-time resource reallocation
throughout an event timeline. Who is the
nearest radiation specialist? Where is the
closest medical facility? Where can I get four
HazMat suits in the shortest possible
time? These are questions that cannot be
answered on the fly or with any precision using
any traditional means. It is the combination of
real-time geographic data (including incident
reports, blocked roadways, chemical plumes, etc)
and resource data that makes such a system so
powerful in the hands of emergency managers.
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Questions?
For more information about this paper or other
customized emergency response solutions, please
contact SGCi Penobscot Bay Media, LLC. Stuart
Rich President and GIS Division Director SGCi
SGCi Penobscot Bay Media 16 School St., Rockland,
ME 04841 [phone] x 22 sturich_at_penbaymedia.c
om Michael Hardy General Manager SGCi SGCi
Penobscot Bay Media SGCi SGCi Penobscot Bay
Media 16 School St., Rockland, ME 04841 (877)
594-0118 x 27 mhardy_at_penbaymedia.com Web
http//www.penbaymedia.com/ems SGCi Penobscot
Bay Media is a Woman-Owned, Service-Disabled
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