June 2005

RESCUE team develops online loss estimation program for characterizing the effects of earthquakes on transportation networks

INLET – which is an acronym for Internet-based Loss Estimation Tool – serves not only as a tool for simulating events to test the integration of information technology into emergency response; it is the first online, real-time earthquake loss estimation system available to the emergency management and response community. 

For the past year and a half, engineers and GIS specialists at ImageCat, Inc. in Long Beach , California , have been developing a centralized, web-based loss estimation and transportation modeling platform for crisis response.  INLET has been constructed as a testbed for evaluating the efficacy of Information Technology (IT) solutions in reducing the impacts of regional hazards, such as earthquakes.  In addition to its use as a RESCUE testbed, INLET will also serve as an emergency response and mitigation tool for government organizations, such as the City of Los Angeles and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).  Using INLET, users will be able to evaluate different evacuation strategies to escape from life-threatening incidents (e.g., chemical release), as well as assess the effective use of IT in reducing the overall impacts of large disasters.

INLET incorporates a geographic information system (GIS) component, unlimited Internet accessibility, a risk estimation engine, and a first-order transportation simulation engine.  When combined, these elements provide a robust online calculation capability that can not only estimate damage to transportation elements, but also damage and losses to buildings and impacts on exposed populations (i.e., casualties).

INLET is scheduled for a beta-release in the summer of 2005.  Installation at government partners' sites is scheduled for 2006.

Additional information on INLET is available in the paper “A Centralized Web-based Loss Estimation and Transportation Modeling Platform for Disaster Response,” available at here.

NSF site review for RESCUE successfully held at UC Irvine; second year progress report submitted

Since we communicated with you last month, we're pleased to report that the entire RESCUE team contributed to a successful NSF site review of our program. The meeting was held at UC Irvine on June 2-3. We are especially indebted to the members of our CAB and other first responders who attended the site review and gave their support. You may enjoy viewing selected photos that were taken at the Poster and Demo Session on June 2. They are available at http://rescue.calit2.net/nsf/ . (Click on “View the slideshow here.”)

The week prior to the site review we submitted our year 2 RESCUE progress report. It is available on line here. Please scan it to see what we've been working on during the past year.