Geographic Information System Standard Operating Procedures on Incidents

The purpose of this document is to standardize GIS products and methods and improve service to decision makers, including Incident Management Teams (IMTs) and others who rely on this critical information.

The Geographic Information System Standard Operating Procedures on Incidents Project (GSTOP) was chartered by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) in fall 2004. The primary objective of the GSTOP was to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the use of GIS on wildland fire incidents.

The primary audience for this document is the GIS Specialist performing GIS work on a wildland fire incident, other members of the Planning Section within the Incident Management Team who need to
display incident information, and other personnel reliant on Planning Section products; for example, Public Information Officers and Operations Section personnel.

These SOPs address a national interagency GIS information management issue and are intended to provide a technology-independent standard. While changes in technology may lead to different actual structures over time, the design parameters that represent business needs should remain constant.

Chapter 2: File Naming and Directory Structure—provides guidance on establishing and maintaining an efficient
and consistent file naming and directory structure for incident geospatial data, including common
abbreviations.

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