Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coasts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi on 29th August 2005, resulting in severe and widespread damage to the region. The response of the federal government, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in the aftermath of the storm has been widely criticised. Some of and the criticism has focused on the organisational arrangements involving FEMA and its parent, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This book summarises principal federal disaster assistance programs, specifically FEMA, for possible use by Members of Congress and staff in helping address the needs of constituents. A number of federal agencies provide assistance to victims; to state, territorial, and local governments; and to non-governmental entities following a disaster. Among other forms of assistance, federal programs can provide grants, loans, loan guarantees, temporary housing, and counselling. The background of FEMA is also presented.

It is particularly appropriate that the AAG's Centennial Celebration should prompt the publication of a volume devoted to Geography and Technology. New technologies have always been important in advancing geographic understanding, but never have they been so thoroughly and rapidly transformative of the discipline as at this stage in geography's evolution. Just as new technologies have profoundly expanded both research possibilities and the knowledge base of other disciplines, such as biology, physics or medicine, so too are the revolutionary new geographic technologies developed during the past few decades extending frontiers in geographic research, education and applications. They are also creating new and resurgent roles for geography in both society and in the university. This trend is still accelerating, as the integration of geographic technologies, such as the global positioning system and geographic information systems (GPS/GIS), is creating an explosion of new "real-time, real-world" applications and research capabilities. The resultant dynamic space/time interactive research and management environments created by interactive GPS/GIS, among other technologies, places geography squarely at the forefront of advanced multidisciplinary research and modeling programs, and has created core organization management tools (geographic management systems) which will dramatically change the way governments and businesses work in the decades ahead. While these and other important geographic technologies, including remote sensing, location-based services, and many others addressed in this book, are forging new opportunities for geography and geographers, they also pose challenges.

Exploit the advantages of Geographic Information Systems in your business Once the domain of cartographers and other specialists, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly being employed by the business community. Location-based services, supply chain management, management of field-distributed equipment, geographical marketing and promotion, and the spatial web are some of the current business applications which make use of GIS principles. Written specifically for the businessperson, Geo-Business: GIS in the Digital Organization is the first book to provide comprehensive coverage of GIS applications in the business and organizational environment. Going beyond a strictly geographical focus, this book sets GIS in the context of business information systems and other business sub-disciplines such as logistics, marketing, finance, and strategic management. It presents from an organizational perspective the advantages of spatially enabling existing enterprise systems and illustrates how GIS is applied in the real world through rigorous case study analyses of twenty companies, including Baystate Health, Chico’s, Kaiser Permanente, Lamar Advertising Company, Rand McNally, Southern Company, Sears Roebuck, and Sperry Van Ness. In this book, you’ll find out: What GIS is and how it can be integrated into your organization’s existing information infrastructure. How GIS is currently making businesses better, and how you can apply the same techniques to your industry or organization. The expanding roles of GIS and spatial technologies in the web and mobile environments. The ethical, legal, and security issues of special technologies How to conduct a cost/benefit and ROI analyses for GIS. Grounded in the real world of business and IT, Geo-Business will show you how spatially enabling your IT systems can give you a unique advantage to beat your competitors in the market, win and retain customers, grow your business, make better decisions, develop new products and services, and optimize your workflow.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Stephen Hawking has dazzled readers worldwide with a string of bestsellers exploring the mysteries of the universe. Now, for the first time, perhaps the most brilliant cosmologist of our age turns his gaze inward for a revealing look at his own life and intellectual evolution. My Brief History recounts Stephen Hawking’s improbable journey, from his postwar London boyhood to his years of international acclaim and celebrity. Lavishly illustrated with rarely seen photographs, this concise, witty, and candid account introduces readers to a Hawking rarely glimpsed in previous books: the inquisitive schoolboy whose classmates nicknamed him Einstein; the jokester who once placed a bet with a colleague over the existence of a particular black hole; and the young husband and father struggling to gain a foothold in the world of physics and cosmology. Writing with characteristic humility and humor, Hawking opens up about the challenges that confronted him following his diagnosis of ALS at age twenty-one. Tracing his development as a thinker, he explains how the prospect of an early death urged him onward through numerous intellectual breakthroughs, and talks about the genesis of his masterpiece A Brief History of Time—one of the iconic books of the twentieth century. Clear-eyed, intimate, and wise, My Brief History opens a window for the rest of us into Hawking’s personal cosmos.

This book provides readers with the most comprehensive and authoritative treatment of the topic available. Topics covered include modeling frameworks, paradigms and approaches; model development, calibration and validation; dynamic systems modeling and four-dimensional GIS; and more. Includes case studies in GIS/EM. This book is intended for readers interested in advanced Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Data Processing, or Environmental Modeling.

An encyclopedia designed especially to meet the needs of elementary, junior high, and senior high school students.