The Mississippi Evacuation and Traveler’s Assistance (MSETA) system provides public assistance for emergency evacuation and tourism/travel. The MSETA system is composed of three major components: (1) a Web server that provides an interface to the public, (2) a GIS/backend server that retrieves data from multiple sources, and (3) a database server to store the data.

The MSETA System Manager displays information on real-time traffic volume, and data for hotel owners, gas station owners, hospitals, and other service providers.
The public Web site provides a single user interface for a number of different types of information that could be useful in the event of a natural disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast. This information includes real-time weather radar and warning, real-time traffic volumes, stakeholder (defined as information providers, i.e., hotel owners, gas station owners) data, and government information. The main Web page utilizes Google Maps. It also has a layer management tool that allows users to select what layers of information will be overlaid on the map. These layers can include: traffic counts (when provided by states), traffic by speed (when provided by states), weather radar, weather warning, and evacuation routes. The GIS (Geographic Information System)/back end server handles all requests, both public and stakeholder, for stored information, as well as updates, as they are received. In addition, the server unpacks incoming traffic data in multiple formats, updates the traffic data table on the database server, and archives the data files. The MSETA system is novel in that it provides, in a single Web/internet location, the ability for travelers and evacuees to access near-real-time traffic flow data, weather data alerts, and stakeholder data.

This work was done by Mike Dean, Robert Pacheco, Jeff Robinson, and Ashleigh Ehrisman of Northrop Grumman for Stennis Space Center. For more information, contact Northrop Grumman at (850) 678-0940. Refer to SSC-00377.