http://students.uwf.edu/saa21/untitled.avi
On April 22, 2010 BP's (British Petroleum) Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank at its location 48 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven men lost their lives and oil began spewing into the ocean uncontrollably, threatening wildlife and humans way of life. The role of GIS in this event is both critical and telling. There is no doubt that the role of GIS in disaster response is to produce outputs that are clear, succinct, precise and timely.
One should never underestimate the power or expectation that a major player will drag their feet or even lie about information as basic as "how much oil is leaking?" This is a link to an article about BP and GIS censorship. It is truly worth reading.
http://www.scientificblogging.com/chatter_box/bp_gis_and_mysterious_vanishing_openletter
What I have learned as a GIS apprentice this week is the value in dry runs. It is here that you learn your weakness in prior text, the limits of your technology (computers, printers, etc), the strength and depth of your backup plans for data that isn't formatted and your temperament for handling the situation. I have also taken away that it is better to fail at a dry run and know what went wrong then to breeze through a requirement and have no clue what to do when it all goes sideways.
I like this :) ...including your perspective.
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