In late 2010 and early 2011, a series of devastating floods hit Queensland, Australia. The floods impacted at least 70 towns and over 200,000 people and caused an estimated $5.8 billion (Australian) in damage. To assess the damage, the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) used GIS to map conditions such as flooded roads and damaged buildings, providing near real time situational awareness for officials directing the response and recovery efforts. As soon as the flooding began, QFRS deployed mobile GIS to collect information that would give both commanders and frontline responders valuable intelligence. Using mobile GIS to capture data from land and air provided a real-time understanding of the damage caused by the floodwaters. The information gathered helped direct and redirect efforts that would minimize damage.

Tom Patterson, the wildland fire specialist with ESRI and Mark Wallace, GIS Unit, Queensland Fire an Rescue Service, will present a webinar describing the use of mobile tech on the incident, how the system developed in Australia, and suggestions for applying similar technology systems in wildfire management in the US.

This webinar is hosted by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center (http://wildfirelessons.net), the Joint Fire Science Program (http://www.firescience.gov/), and the International Association of Wildland Fire (http://www.iawfonline.org/).