The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Homeland Security Working Group has been tasked to develop a standard set of symbols for use by the Emergency Management and First Responder communities at all levels of need (i.e. National, State, Local and Incident). The purpose of this Evaluation Form is to offer an opportunity for voluntary review and comment on the Categories, Themes, and Features proposed for use in mapping emergency preparation, response, and recovery activities. Symbols and their definitions have been developed for Incidents/Natural Events, Operations and Infrastructures at a level to provide immediate and general understanding of the situation. Detailed attribution for any feature can be included by the user. Both a category structure and a Damage-Operational status hierarchy were developed using color and frame shapes with line patterns. While these symbols do not include all emergency management features, they provide an initial framework for emergency management and first responder mapping and communication. The symbology was designed for use in digital and paper map products.
Federal, State, and local agencies worked together under the auspices of the FGDC's Homeland Security Working Group, to develop the proposed symbology. The voluntary evaluation is intended to provide the Working Group with a preliminary assessment of the utility and acceptability of the symbology prior to it's formal submission to a consensus-based standards body such as the American National Standards Institute. It is anticipated that when these symbols become standard, their widespread adoption by the emergency management, first responder and software vendor communities will make them readily available and consistently used in emergency management mapping applications. Your voluntary evaluation is an important and welcome part of the symbology formulation process. It should take approximately one-hour to complete the evaluation. Thank you in advance for your participation...
1) Approach - A comprehensive review and evaluation of existing symbology was performed prior to the development of the symbols. Whenever possible an authoritative source was used as a starting point. The symbology was designed to ensure scalability and cross-disciplinary/cross-cultural flexibility.
2) Points - Currently, the scope of this standard is limited to point symbols. However, the standard is expected to expand at a later date to include lines and polygons. Additional details can be stored as attributes and displayed in a way appropriate to your specific map or application. For example, "football stadium" could be carried as an attribute of the "Open Facility" feature within Infrastructure/Public Venue.
3) Maps - There are separate symbol set formats optimized for on-screen viewing and for printing; the symbols shown in this document are those optimized for computer screen viewing. Print quality of the symbols could vary depending upon your output device. While you may print this document for your review, please fill out the form electronically to aid in the comment compilation process. If you have special circumstances which prevent electronic submission, contact udymon@kent.edu.
4) Frame Shapes (Borders) - To further distinguish between the four Categories (Incidents, Natural Events, Operations and Infrastructure), category shapes or borders (diamond, circle and rectangle respectively) are used to visually classify the symbols into their respective categories.
5) Color vs. Black & White - The symbols are designed to be distinctive in either a color or black and white environment. While a colored symbol frame can be used to denote the level of damage or operational status, the pattern of this frame also denotes the status. See the damage/operational section of this document.
6) Scale - The symbols were designed for application at the large and medium map scales typically used by emergency managers. If a very small symbol is required (below 12 point), it is recommended that you use the category shape as the symbol (i.e.. diamond for incidents) with additional information provided via legend, labels, and attributes.
7) Web Site - The symbols can be viewed in a live internet browser application at the following URL:
http://www.co.ba.md.us/Agencies/infotech/geographic_information_systems/homeland_security.html
The evaluation form is divided into six evaluation sections (i.e. Incidents, Natural Events, Operations and Infrastructure (2), Damage-Operational Status).
1) Check Boxes - You can accept or reject each symbol. If you agree with all of the symbols in a particular section you can check the "Accept all symbols below" box.
2) Comments (Required for Rejected Symbols) - If you Reject a symbol, please provide a reason in the comments section so that we can properly document your recommendations to alter the symbol.
3) Definitions - If you dislike the symbol definition, please explain why in the comment section and provide an alternate definition. Be sure to cite a source for your definition.
4) Submitting Your Response - After you have filled in the User Profile (below) and completed your evaluation please submit your evaluation form via the final submission page. This evaluation process will run from November 1, 2003 until December 15, 2003. The results of the evaluation will then be posted on this site.
5) Alternative Symbols - If you have an alternative symbol you would recommend for replacement, please email your example to udymon@kent.edu.
To allow us to assess the User Community response, please check all appropriate boxes:
Instructions
| User Profile
| Incidents Evaluation
| Natural Events Evaluation
Operations Evaluation
| Infrastructures Evaluation (Part 1)
| Infrastructures Evaluation (Part 2)
Damage/Operational Evaluation
| Maps
| Final Submission