title: The clearinghouse concept: a model for geospatial data centralization and dissemination in a disaster.
abstract: The disaster clearinghouse concept originates with the earthquake community as an effort to coordinate research and data collection activities. Though prior earthquake clearinghouses are small in comparison to what was needed in response to Hurricane Katrina, these seminal structures are germane to the establishment of our current model. On 3 September 2005, five days after Katrina wrought cataclysmic destruction along the Gulf Coast, FEMA and Louisiana State University personnel met to establish the LSU GIS Clearinghouse Cooperative (LGCC), a resource for centralization and dissemination of geospatial information related to Hurricane Katrina. Since its inception, the LGCC has developed into a working model for organization, dissemination, archiving and research regarding geospatial information in a disaster. This article outlines the formation of the LGCC, issues of data organization, and methods of data dissemination and archiving with an eye towards implementing the clearinghouse model as a standard resource for addressing geospatial data needs in disaster research and management.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0255, USA. jacqueline.mills@usc.edu
authors.forename: Jacqueline Warren
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.forename: Barrett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: Farrell
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Ramesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramani
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bausch
mesh_terms: D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D019992:Databases as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D004190:Disasters; D033181:Information Dissemination; D017146:Models, Organizational; D055820:New Orleans