alertSmarts™
alertSmarts is an end-to-end alert processing system for aggregating,
managing, assessing, and reporting on alerts.
alertSmarts is a web-based situation awareness, impact assessment, and reporting application for: (1) aggregating, filtering, managing, and monitoring real-time alerts within rich situation awareness context, (2) integrating multiple geospatial data sources on-the-fly into coherent, context-sensitive map views through an extensible, standards-based data interoperability and integration framework, (3) performing impact assessments of the potential and actual impacts of hazardous events on vulnerable facilities, populations, and property, and (4) producing and consuming maps, reports, and alerts through a unique and powerful Web-based information sharing framework.
Benefits
- Provides time-sensitive situation awareness to any authorized user with Internet access
- Provides a highly adaptive, intuitive user interface that requires minimal training and enhances user productivity
- Enables emergency managers to quickly generate, publish, and share critical, time-sensitive maps, reports, and alerts
- Provides the means for emergency managers to respond to and recover from all types of emergencies, and to mitigate the effects of future disasters through simulations and pre-planning
- Determines the impact of hazardous events to aid in reducing loss of life and property
- Aggregates and filters live alert feeds from authoritative sources such as DHS, NWS, and USGS for timely assessment and response
- Increased cost savings through state-of-the-art geospatial data integration framework
Features
- Secure, Context-Sensitive Situation Awareness. Authorized operators can access alertSmarts through its unique Web Portal using any Web-accessible device from within or outside an Operations Center. Unique user themes and layout can easily be configured and customized to fit the operational requirements of local, regional, state, and federal agencies and organizations.
- Alert Handling. alertSmarts accesses, aggregates, and manages near-real time web-based information ranging from NWS Severe Weather Warning polygons to USGS Earthquake point epicenters to CAP feeds from DHS. alertSmarts seamlessly integrates alerts into highly-configurable map views, enabling users to visualize the features they care about in the context of the alert and real-world infrastructure and and other features.
- Impact Assessment. With alertSmarts users can instantaneously evaluate the pre-event impact on critical facilities and property, and identify threatened populations by overlaying alert boundaries or plume footprints from models (e.g., ALOHA), and and clipping out features of interest. alertSmarts automates actual impact assessment within tornado damage swaths, flood areas, and user-defined boundaries(e.g., buffers or other polygons) and rapidly generates post-event damage assessments, saving valuable time in preparing relief fund requests.
- Geospatial Data. alertSmarts seamlessly integrates public geospatial data resources that are freely available on the Web from USGS and other sources, as well as local GIS databases, through a standards-based geospatial data access and integration framework.
- Reporting. Used for both emergency and non-emergency situations, alertSmarts processes alerts from multiple sources, performs assessments, and disseminates customized situation reports via GeoRSS feeds to first responders, emergency managers, and other operational personnel. alertSmarts generates reports in standard html and PDF formats that contain embedded maps, narrative, summary tables, authorship, and revision history.
- Training. alertSmarts comes equipped with historical alert datasets so you can train using your data in your area to make the monitoring, assessment, reporting, and sharing process as realistic as possible. These historical alerts can be loaded and turned "on" for training events during benign weather periods, and then turned "off" when finished. Alternatively, fictitious alert datasets that you define can be used for training.
Learn why first responders are deploying alertSmarts
Sign Up Today for an Online Interactive Demonstration of alertSmarts
Join former Incident Commander Joe Toy for a live demonstration. Discover benefits of deploying alertSmartsfor monitoring and responding to severe weather events in your community. Sign up to learn how alertSmarts can support your emergency operations.
Key Software for Emergency Managers Deployed
The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) Deploys alertSmarts for Emergency Managers. “The application will offer the local jurisdictions in the MARC region a greater degree of situational awareness in planning for and responding to severe weather events,” said Kyle McPhee, a planner for MARC’s Emergency Services and Homeland Security program.
Homeland Security Market
The technology that drives alertSmarts is userSmarts GX, which includes the Context Sensitive Situation Awareness (CSSA) Application, a rich application framework for rapid mashup of situation awareness, alerting, and reporting applications for the Homeland Security Market.
