GIS-based information distribution in emergency management

Availability, distribution, and comprehensibility of information in emergency situations are preconditions for decision making and emergency response. Concise distribution of available information is especially vital for mobile environments, where bandwidth is a scarce source. In addition, time-critical domains, such as emergency management, demand fast decisions from expert users under stress. The Decisioncentered visualization (DCV) approach supports decision making by integrating domain knowledge and knowledge about human situation awareness for time-critical information distribution. Efficient GIS information presentation is vital for the user's situation awareness and, in consequence, to task performance in emergency situations.