EMMU Mobile Emergency Response GIS / GPS Mapping Trailer and Geo-Photo

As I was looking back at where EMMU had come from and where EMMU Aerial is today, it was obvious we had come a long way and learned a lot along the way, mostly through our emergency mobile mapping and oblique aerial photography systems.

From the early days of Emergency Mobile Mapping Unit or EMMU in 2000 where we provided a true mobile emergency GIS response capability with our GIS quick response trailer to support wildland firefighters, first responders and search and rescue professionals. 

Read more about the original concept of the EMMU mobile emergency response GIS / GPS mapping system

During an emergency or crisis, maps play a critical role in responding to the event, search and rescue, mitigating further damage, and understanding the extent of the impacts. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an appropriate platform to organize the extensive amount of spatial data both generated and utilized during an emergency event. A properly designed and implemented GIS will allow managers and responders to access critical location data in a timely manner so lives and property can be protected and restored.

GIS works effectively in all four phases of the disaster management cycle; preparation, mitigation, response and recovery.

 GIS can play a valuable and vital role in;

•             Hurricanes

•             Tornadoes

•             Floods

•             Wild Fires

•             Earthquakes

•             Volcanoes

•             Tsunamis

•             Landslides

•             Search and Rescue

•             Epidemics

•             Social unrest

•             Toxic spills

EMMU GIS Trailers are capable of quickly and efficiently compiling, processing, managing and printing raw data points onto either full-size 36" or 42" color plots, or on easy to distribute 11"x17" pages. The EMMU GIS trailers also have the ability to project maps inside the trailer for emergency managers to quickly survey and understand an ever changing situation. EMMU has top-of-the line hardware, current ESRI GIS software suites, and experienced specialists to provide a GIS solution that will exceed expectations for quality and speed of service.

Opportunities for Mobile GIS Systems end with the limits of your imagination. These systems are ideal for emergency management, private, corporate, county and industrial research where onsite mapping technologies and experienced GIS / GPS specialists can save time and cut costs considerably

EMMU GPS Specialists can also assist the incident commander by providing GPS, GIS data integration. GPS is one of the most efficient methods for documenting information regarding the location of facilities, conditions, and environments affected by Wildfire, Floods, Earthquakes, and other incidents.

EMMU GIS units are dispatched out of Central Florida with a fully qualified GIS/GPS Specialist.  Additional GIS /GPS Specialists are available upon request

Standard GIS Unit Features

•             8.5 x 24 ft Self contained climate controlled trailer

•             Meets OSHA work environment requirements

•             Workspace for a minimum of 3 workers

•             AC power source (Generator)

•             High Speed Satellite Internet Connection

•             UPS and line conditioner system

•             All workstations, printers and plotters are networked

•             1 Xeon 3.0 MHz Desktop

•             2 Core 2 Duo Mobile Desktops

•             HP 800 PS Large Scale Plotter

•             HP 9600 11x17 Printer

•             Laser copier, printer, fax, scanner

•             Multiple GPS units

•             4x4 ATV with GPS  (Optional)

Installed software includes

•             ESRI ArcGIS 9.1 and 9.2

•             ESRI ArcView 3.3

•             Spatial Analyst

•             Fire Incident Mapping Tool

•             Ventura Tools

•             DNR Garmin GPS software

•             Adobe Photoshop

•             Microsoft Office 

EMMU Inc. also offers Oblique Aerial Photography; we use a professional-grade digital camera with top of the line lenses. The resulting images can be filtered to remove moderate smoke/haze, and enhanced to identify vegetation types. We also utilize Gyro-stabilizing equipment to keep the camera still at the moment the photo is snapped. Thanks to this added stabilization, photographs taken from an airplane or helicopter do not contain the blur seen on many photos. When needed, these cameras can be coupled with a GPS to provide the Latitude and Longitude coordinates in the photo data and on the photo if needed.

Years later, EMMU Aerial had developed their skills through extensive operational aerial photography, remote sensing and UAS surveillance work with the military and government agencies. From these beginnings with military systems, we now provide turnkey and flexible training solutions and services for public safety agencies and organizations throughout the U.S.