Back to Top

Configure Emergency Debris Management

In this topic

  1. Load data from a shapefile or file geodatabase
  2. Provision users
  3. Assign personnel to ArcGIS Workforce
  4. Create incident names
  5. Modify surveys
  6. Configure Emergency Debris Management Center
  7. Share items with the public
  8. Use work routes instead of areas
  9. Use the metric system
  10. Administer debris reports

Emergency Debris Management can be used to expedite initial debris clearance, assess volume, and monitor the removal of disaster debris accumulated on roads, rights-of-way, and public facilities.

In this topic, you'll learn how to configure the Emergency Debris Management solution to meet specific needs in your organization.

Tip:
As you configure the solution, record the configurations or alterations you make with each version in a change log. This information will be valuable if you upgrade to a new version and need to evaluate the effort required.

Load data from a shapefile or file geodatabase

Applications included in the Emergency Debris Management solution can leverage authoritative operational layers for debris management already managed by your organization. Existing GIS layers for debris work areas or routes, debris management sites, debris removal providers, and critical infrastructure can be appended to the corresponding layers within the solution. Review the layers provided with the solution and determine what source data you want to load. Then, load your existing data into the layers provided with the solution before sharing maps or apps.

To load data from a shapefile or file geodatabase, complete the following steps:

  1. Create a .zip file of your shapefile or file geodatabase.
  2. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Debris Area feature layer.
  3. From the item page, click Update Data.
    Tip:

    You may need to click the expand button Expand to see all options.

  4. Follow the steps in the Update data wizard to load your data.
    5. Tip:

    For more information about uploading data, see Manage hosted feature layers—Append data to layers.

  5. Optionally, repeat these steps to load data into the Debris Removal Providers and Debris Management Sites layers.
Note:

To use the Truck Certification Form, you must first load records in the DebrisRemovalProviders feature layer or create them using the Manage Removal Status app in the Emergency Debris Management Center.

Provision users

The Emergency Debris Management solution enables secure viewing and editing privileges to users based on their roles in the clearance, assessment, and removal workflows. To ensure privileges are appropriate to the needs of each user role, the Emergency Debris Management solution includes several role-specific sharing groups for managers, first responders and clearance field crew supervisors, assessors, monitors, and record reviewers such as contractor administrative staff or FEMA personnel. These groups are preconfigured with the layers, maps, and apps each role needs to perform their functions within the solution.

Add named user accounts to the corresponding groups, by completing the following steps:

  1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and that you have privileges to manage member groups.
  2. Click Groups at the top of the site.
  3. Search My Groups for Emergency Debris.

    The search returns five groups: Emergency Debris Management, Emergency Debris Monitors, Emergency Debris Record Reviewers, and Emergency Debris Clearance Crews.

  4. Click the group you want to invite users to.
  5. Click Invite users and add individuals performing that function to the group.

Assign personnel to ArcGIS Workforce

The Emergency Debris Management solution includes an ArcGIS Workforce project used by debris operations leads to assign debris clearance assignments to the supervisors of work crews in the field. Before the solution can be used, the named user accounts of each debris operations lead and work crew supervisors must be added to the Workforce project in the dispatcher and mobile worker roles, respectively.

Assign named users to the corresponding group, by completing the following steps:

  1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and click the Apps button Apps in the header of the site.
  2. From the app launcher, click Workforce to open the app.
  3. Under Projects, hover over the Debris Clearance Assignments project and click the Configure button.
  4. Click the Users tab.
  5. From the Organization User drop-down menu, select a user to add to the project.
  6. From the Project Role menu, assign the role for that user.
  7. Click +User.
  8. Repeat this process for each of your field crew supervisors.

Create incident names

Over time, you may experience several emergency incidents. Therefore, it will be important to name each incident so you will be able to track the debris assessments and monitor tickets associated to each incident. The Emergency Debris Management Center app can be used to create incident names.

To create and manage disaster incident names, complete the following steps:

  1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Debris Management Center app.
  2. From the item page, click View.
  3. In the header, click the down arrow next to the Help tab and click Manage Incident Names.
  4. Click Download and then open the IncidentName CSV file on your computer.
  5. Add a new incident name in the first field and save the file with the changes.
  6. From the item page, click Update Data.
    Tip:

    You may need to click the expand button Expand to see all options.

  7. Follow the steps in the Update data wizard to load your data.

The new incident name has been added to the list of incidents and will appear on each survey when debris reports are collected.

Modify surveys

The Emergency Debris Management solution includes the Load Ticket and Unload Ticket surveys. To prevent mistakes and ensure data quality, several fields in the surveys can use lookup lists generated from the unique values contained in a field from a separate layer. To complete the setup of this capability in the Load Ticket and Unload Ticket, the surveys must be edited using ArcGIS Survey123 Connect and then republished.

Tip:

The Load Ticket, Unload Ticket, and Debris Assessment Form forms are configured to provide address information and will consume credits using the ArcGIS World Geocoding Service. Learn more about credit usage when using the geocoding service.

Update Load Ticket

To improve data quality, several fields in the Load Ticket can be updated with a dynamic list of values based on fields found in other layers. The Truck ID field in the Load Ticket is updated by a lookup list containing the truck IDs of all trucks that have been certified using the Truck Certification Form, which uses the TruckCertification related table in the DebrisRemovalProviders layer. Once a user selects a truck ID, the available values for the truck capacity and removal provider name fields are filtered to correspond to the values entered in the Truck Certification Form for the selected truck ID.

To add dynamic field lookup lists to the Load Ticket, complete the following steps:

  1. Install ArcGIS Survey123 Connect.
  2. Start ArcGIS Survey123 Connect and sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
  3. Click Load Ticket to download the survey.
  4. In the Download window, click Download and click OK.
  5. Click Load Ticket to open the survey.
  6. On the left, from the side toolbar, click the XLSForm button.
    7. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet opens.
  7. At the bottom of the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, click the survey tab.

    This tab comprises all the questions in the survey.

  8. Delete the text in the type column of row 9 (Truck ID Number) and type the following expression: 
    select_one trucknum
    Note:

    When saving, you may see the following warning message: “Please select yes if you are using a select_one or select_multiple XLS”. Click Yes.

  9. Delete the text in the type column of row 10 (Capacity) and type the following expression: 
    select_one deccap
  10. Delete the text in the type column of row 14 (Contractor) and type the following expression: 
    select_one truckcont
  11. Paste the following expression into the appearance column of row 9: 
    minimal search("TruckCertification1?url={your clipboard URL}/1","matches","idnum")
  12. Paste the following expression into the appearance column of row 10: 
    minimal search("TruckCertification2?url={your clipboard URL}/1","matches","capacity","", "idnum",${truckid})
  13. Paste the following expression into the appearance column of row 14: 
    minimal search("TruckCertification3?url={your clipboard URL}/1","matches","contractor","", "idnum",${truckid})
  14. If necessary, sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
  15. Search for and click the DebrisRemovalProviders_monitors hosted Feature Layer View.
  16. Scroll to the bottom of the Overview page for the DebrisRemovalProviders_monitors item, and in the URL section, click the Copy button. This copies the layer service URL to your clipboard.
  17. In row 9, replace {your clipboard URL} with the URL in your clipboard. Make sure the /1 remains at the end of the URL. Repeat for rows 10 and 14.
  18. Save and close the spreadsheet.
    Note:

    If you see a warning message that says, "The appearance value you gave is not one of the standard supported appearance types. If you’re attempting to combine two different appearance types, ensure that they’re separated by a space," click Yes.

  19. In ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, click Publish.
    Note:

    After you click publish, you should see a modal window that says, "The survey will be updated without affecting the existing data." If you get a different message or ArcGIS Survey123 Connect has displayed an error prior to clicking the Publish button, you have made an error in editing the XLSForm and should review steps 5–17 for errors.

  20. Click Publish survey.
  21. When publishing is complete, click OK.
  22. Click the back button to exit the Load Ticket.

Update Unload Ticket

To improve data quality, the unloading location field in the Unload Ticket can be populated with a dynamic list containing only valid debris management site names found in the DebrisManagementSites layer.

To add a dynamic field lookup list to the Unload Ticket, complete the following steps:

  1. Start ArcGIS Survey123 Connect and sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
  2. Click Unload Ticket to download the survey.
  3. In the Download window, click Download and click OK.
  4. Click Unload Ticket to open the survey.
  5. On the left, from the side toolbar, click the XLSForm button.
    6. A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet called Unload Ticket opens.
  6. At the bottom of the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, click the survey tab.

    This tab comprises all the questions in the survey.

  7. Delete the text in the type column of row 17 (Unloading location) and type the following expression: 
    select_one dmsname
  8. Paste the following expression into the appearance column of row 17: 
    autocomplete search("DebrisManagementSites?url={your clipboard URL}/0","matches","name")
  9. In a browser, sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
  10. Search for and click the DebrisManagementSites_monitors hosted Feature Layer View.
  11. Scroll to the bottom of the Overview page for the DebrisManagementSites_monitors item, and in the URL section, click the Copy button to copy the service URL for this layer into your clipboard.
  12. Return to the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
  13. Replace {your clipboard URL} with the URL in your clipboard. Make sure the /0 remains at the end of the URL.
  14. Save and close the spreadsheet.
  15. In ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, click Publish.
    Note:

    After you click publish, you should see a modal window that says, “The survey will be updated without affecting the existing data.” If you get a different message or ArcGIS Survey123 Connect has displayed an error prior to clicking the Publish button, you have made an error in editing the XLSForm and should review steps 5–16 for errors.

  16. Click Publish survey.
  17. When publishing is complete, click OK.
  18. Click the back button to exit the Unload Ticket.

Configure Emergency Debris Management Center

Briefing mobile staff can be challenging, especially during times of an emergency, and new tools may be learned quickly during an event. The Emergency Debris Management Center includes an Access Field Apps page that can be used during a briefing to help mobile staff get access to the apps they need by scanning a QR code, and simple instructions on how to get started. Before the page can be used, you must obtain the QR codes for each of your field apps and add them to the page in the Help section of the Emergency Debris Management Center app. Additionally, you can include step-by-step instructions appropriate for your organization.

Prepare images

To locate QR codes to be used in the Emergency Debris Management Center app, complete the following steps:

  1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and click the Apps button Apps in the header of the site.
  2. Click QuickCapture.
  3. Click the Road Debris Reporter project name to open it.
  4. Click Share.
  5. Under Sharing options, click QR Code and then right-click the QR Code and save the image locally.
  6. Close ArcGIS QuickCapture Designer.
  7. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Debris Assessment Form survey.
  8. From the item page, click Open in Survey 123 > Manage in Survey123 website.
  9. Click Collaborate.
  10. On the Share survey tab, next to Share this survey, click the Show the QR Code button and then click Click to download to save the QR code image locally.
  11. Repeat these steps for the Truck Certification Form, Load Ticket, and Unload Ticket surveys.
  12. Close ArcGIS Survey123.

Update help

For the Debris Assessment Form, complete the following steps:

  1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Debris Management Center.
  2. Open the item page and click Edit
  3. In the header bar, click Live view.
  4. In the Emergency Debris Management Center app header, click the Help drop-down arrow and choose Access Field Apps.
  5. Click the subpage that corresponds to the QR code you are updating.
    Note:

    The Debris Assessment Form QR code belongs on the Assessment Apps subpage, while the Load Ticket, Unload Ticket, and Truck Certification Form belong on the Removal Apps subpage.

  6. Click the image Place QR Code Here.
  7. In the properties window for the image widget, click Select an image.
  8. Click Upload and then browse to and select the QR code that you saved earlier.
  9. Click the Page button to open the Page panel and select the Help page.
  10. Use the Body node of the page panel to navigate between each section.
  11. To update the text or images, select the element in the layout and make the necessary changes. You may choose to copy some of the help documentation into the page and then modify it to fit your organizational needs.
  12. Click Save on the Experience Builder designer header bar and then click Publish.
  13. Repeat these steps for the Truck Certification Form, Load Ticket, and Unload Ticket surveys.

Share items with the public

The Emergency Debris Management solution includes Debris Removal Services, an app used by the public to understand the debris removal schedule for their area or route, who to contact, what to do, and where to drop off debris. In order to make this app accessible to the public, the app and its associated map and layers must be shared publicly.

  1. Verify that you are signed in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Emergency Debris Management folder.
  2. Next to each of the following items, check the check box:

    NameItem type
    Debris Removal Services

    Instant App

    Debris Removal Services

    Web Map

    DebrisAreas_public

    Feature layer (hosted, view)

    DebrisRoutes_public

    Feature layer (hosted, view)

    DebrisManagementSites_public

    Feature layer (hosted, view)

  3. Click Share.
  4. In the Share window, click Everyone (public) and click Save.

Use work routes instead of areas

Note:
This workflow is optional and does not need to be completed to work with the solution.

Organizations managing emergency debris assign assessors and removal providers to perform their work (and track their status) using polygon-based work areas. Typically, these work areas correspond to existing daily operational boundaries, such as garbage pickup areas. Instead of areas, other organizations assign work using line-based routes, such as snowplow routes. The Emergency Debris Management solution is configured by default to support polygon-based work areas using the DebrisAreas feature layer.

Optionally, the default solution configuration using polygon work areas may be reconfigured to use DebrisRoutes, a line-based feature layer included in the solution for using line-based work routes.

To replace the DebrisAreas layer with the DebrisRoutes layer, complete the following steps:

  1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Manage Assessment Status web map.
  2. Open the item page and click Open in Map Viewer.
  3. In the Content pane, check Debris Routes and uncheck Debris Areas.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Repeat steps 2–4 for the following web maps:
    • Debris Assessments Dashboard
    • Debris Assessment Form
    • Manage Removal Status
    • Debris Removal Dashboard
    • Debris Removal Services
      Note:

      The DebrisRoutes layer in these web maps already contains identical pop-up and symbology to the DebrisAreas layer, so no further layer configuration is required.

  6. In the Debris Assessments Dashboard, reconfigure the following dashboard elements to point to the Debris Routes layer:
    • Assessment area by status
    • Assessment area list
    • Areas Fully Assessed
  7. In the Debris Removal Dashboard, reconfigure the following dashboard elements to point to the Debris Routes layer:
    • Removal area by status
    • Removal area list
    • Removal areas completed
      Note:

      When reconfiguring dashboard elements, consider opening the dashboard edit mode in two separate browser windows so you can refer to the original element settings as you reconfigure.

  8. Browse to the Debris Removal Services app and click Configure App.
  9. Click Interactivity.
  10. Click Results.
  11. Uncheck Debris removal service areas and check Debris removal service routes.
  12. Click Back and then click Text Results.
  13. Click Edit for the Text above results section and then change removal service areas to removal service routes.
  14. Click About.
  15. Click Edit for the Edit Introduction Panel section and then change both instances of service area to service route.
  16. Click OK, click Publish, and click Confirm.

Note:

The Debris Removal Services app will display all routes within the app’s specified search distance, not just the nearest route to the selected location.

Use the metric system

Note:
This workflow is optional and does not need to be completed to work with the solution.

The Emergency Debris Management solution is configured to support the workflows of U.S. state and local emergency management and public works agencies, who perform emergency debris management based on guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These guidelines use the Imperial measurement system (feet and cubic yards) to measure disaster debris volume.

Optionally, the Emergency Debris Management solution can be reconfigured for organizations outside the U.S. that use the Metric system to measure disaster debris volume.

To switch Emergency Debris Management from the Imperial to the Metric measurement system, complete the following steps:

  1. Start ArcGIS Survey123 Connect and sign in to your ArcGIS organization.
  2. Click Debris Assessment Form.
  3. Click XLSForm.

    A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet called Debris Assessment Form opens.

  4. Click the survey tab.
  5. In the label column, change all Imperial measurement references to Metric (for example, change ft. to m., cu. yd to cu. m., in. to cm., and lbs. to kg.)
  6. Delete rows 8–11 (hazardoustree group, diameter, and fill fields).

    These rows apply only to U.S. FEMA estimation methods, which have no comparable international standard.

  7. In the calculation field of row 15 (Est. Volume), delete the default function and paste in the following expression: 
    round((${debrislength}*${width}*${height}),1)
  8. Click the settings tab and then, in the instance_name field, change cu yd. to cu. m.
  9. Save and close the spreadsheet.
  10. In ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, click Publish.
  11. Repeat steps 1–5 for the Truck Certification Form.
  12. In the calculation field of row 35 (Final Truck Capacity), delete the default function and paste in the following expression: 
    if(selected(${trucktype}, 'Round Bottom Truck'), round(((3.14 * ((number(${truckdiam}) div 2) * (number(${truckdiam}) div 2))) * number(${trucklength})),2), round((number(${trucklength}) * number(${truckwidth}) * number(${truckheight})) - ((((number(${hoistlength1}) + number(${hoistlength2})) div 2) * number(${hoistwidth}) * number(${hoistheight}))) - (3.14 * (number(${radiusft}) * number(${radiusft}))* number(${radiusheight})),2))
  13. Save and close the spreadsheet.
  14. In ArcGIS Survey123 Connect, click Publish.
  15. Repeat steps 1–5 and 8–9 for Load Ticket and Unload Ticket.
  16. Go to the following web maps, review each layer, and in pop-ups, change all labels from Imperial measurement references to Metric (for example, change ft. to m., cu. yd to cu. m., in. to cm., and lbs. to kg.)
    • Manage Assessment Status
    • Debris Assessments Dashboard
    • Manage Removal Status
    • Debris Removal Dashboard
    • Debris Logs
    • Debris Records Reviewer
    • Debris Assessment Form
  17. Go to the following apps, review the configuration, and change all labels from Imperial measurement references to Metric (for example, change ft. to m., cu. yd to cu. m., in. to cm., and lbs. to kg.)
    • Debris Assessments Dashboard
    • Debris Removal Dashboard

Administer debris reports

Note:
This workflow is optional and does not need to be completed to work with the solution.

After an incident, organizations may choose to extract and delete data from the Emergency Debris Management solution to prepare for the next incident.

Many organizations require local copies of web layers for disaster recovery or archival purposes. Learn more about how to export data from hosted feature layers into a local file geodatabase to create a local copy of your data.

Organizations may also choose to delete historical data from feature layers after they have archived the data to a local file geodatabase. To delete all records from a feature layer using the ArcGIS REST API service directory, complete the following steps:

  1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the hosted feature layer or table.
  2. Open the item page and scroll to the URL section at the bottom right.
  3. Click View.

    The ArcGIS REST Services Directory for this page appears.

  4. Click the link of the layer or table from which you want to delete records.
  5. Scroll to Supported Operations and click Delete Features.

    This option is only available when editing has been enabled on the service

  6. In the Where parameter, type ObjectID>0.
  7. In the Async parameter, set the value to TRUE.
  8. Click Delete Features.

    This process can take several minutes when many features are present.

Feedback on this topic?

In this topic
  1. Load data from a shapefile or file geodatabase
  2. Provision users
  3. Assign personnel to ArcGIS Workforce
  4. Create incident names
  5. Modify surveys
  6. Configure Emergency Debris Management Center
  7. Share items with the public
  8. Use work routes instead of areas
  9. Use the metric system
  10. Administer debris reports