USC’s Spatial Sciences Institute Takes GIS Beyond the Classroom

Effective monitoring of human movement for rapid response in the event of emergencies is critical to ensure the safety of individuals and communities. When high-profile events draw in massive crowds, public health emergencies and catastrophic weather events demand a skilled workforce managing human safety with operational and situational awareness. Students at the University of Southern California Spatial Sciences Institute can choose between 19 academic programs, ranging from undergraduate minors and majors to a PhD. The undergraduate curriculum is rooted in leveraging geographic information system (GIS) technology to solve real-world challenges—one of which is responding to emergencies or disasters in the context of large-scale events.

USC’s coursework for its BS in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence (HSGI) is cumulative and prepares students to think critically and engage with members of the human security and geospatial intelligence communities. An example of one of the courses in the major includes National Intelligence and the Shaping of Policy. Students collect spatial data using drones, which they then analyze and use to produce projects to demonstrate mapped simulations of various scenarios.

Outside the classroom, students have the opportunity to conduct research with faculty teams or intern at corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit. It is in these organizations where they learn how to respond to real-world humanitarian concerns.

“The geospatial-intelligence world is really in need of talent that is trained in both intelligence research and also in the geospatial intelligence or GEOINT capacity,” said Dr. Diana Ter-Ghazaryan, associate professor (teaching) of spatial sciences and director of undergraduate studies at the USC Spatial Sciences Institute. “The capstone course for the BS in HSGI is similar to a mini-internship; it positions students to either move on their next academic step or a career.” 

In the capstone course, students first develop a scope of work in collaboration with the professor, fellow students, an external organization, and if needed, another department at USC. The scope of work helps everyone involved understand which projects will be completed, their goals, and a timeline. “There is very little lecturing in this course. It’s like a studio—students meet with their instructor a few times [then] determine the scope of work,” said Ter-Ghazaryan.

For the spring 2024 semester course taught by Ter-Ghazaryan, Esri’s operational intelligence team served in collaboration with the security team at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Together, they guided students in using new geointelligence tools. Students learned the Esri software, ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Mission, to support situational awareness, and ArcGIS AllSource, for intelligence analysis. “Our partners are in need of a solution that can be [solved] with GIS,” said Ter-Ghazaryan. “Students then apply intelligence writing and research skills to human security situations. My students were inspired by the Olympics happening in Paris, and they had the idea to use the software, the tools, and skills they learned to manage a hypothetical security event at the 2028 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in the LA Memorial Coliseum.”

The goal of their project, titled “2028 LA Olympics: From a Coliseum Security Perspective,” was creating an operational awareness workflow to manage a security incident in a large-crowd setting. Simulating a suspicious package scenario enabled students to assess evacuation procedures, the effectiveness of security protocols within a 1.5-mile radius of the Coliseum, and provide potential areas of improvement.

To create the simulation, students first gathered and analyzed real-world data and accessed publicly available census information, paper maps, and images. Scanning and digitizing the imagery and data made it easier for students and partners to collaborate. The result—a digital recreation of the LA Memorial Coliseum, with a 1.5-mile boundary around the Coliseum, complete with flowcharts for command staff—enabled students to develop a situation report (SITREP) to reflect the data collected.

In the simulated scenario, a Coliseum security guard was the first to report a suspicious package near an entrance gate. Due to the location and appearance of the package, local police and emergency services were notified, and once on the scene, they determined that an evacuation was necessary. Students used ArcGIS Excalibur to find out the length of time the package had been unattended and identify any possible suspects. ArcGIS Excalibur is a web-based video and image-analysis software used to review the closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras on the street. Because a central command workflow was established for all agencies on scene, regular updates were relayed to staff mobile phones. Ultimately, the package was removed, and patrons were allowed to return to the Coliseum. 

The final report from the students revealed several key findings about a real-life incident. Their plan included implementations such as:

• Utilizing a unified command center with local law enforcement, federal agencies, and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service to allow for continuous communication with the local incident commander.
• Performing a review of all security measures and protocols after an incident.
• Providing psychological support services for evacuated individuals and staff, if necessary.

Coursework like this capstone project that allows students to partner with professionals in the field readies them to apply their learnings in the real world once they leave an academic setting.