Innovative computer system enhances security of Husker Nation in stadium

When more than 77,000 Husker faithful crowd Memorial Stadium to cheer their team, a computer mapping program, customized by University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers, watches over them and helps speed response to need or emergency.

"The whole computer package really helps coordinate a lot of individual efforts and strides we've made to improve security at the stadium over the past several years. It weaves the threads together," said Owen Yardley, UNL police chief. Yardley said the computer software application has been used at the stadium since last season.

University officials said they believe this powerful computer program is the only such system in operation at a major college or professional stadium.

"It's also a unique marriage of police practitioners working hand-in-hand with our own researchers to produce a tool that helps us know more about the stadium than we could have ever hoped to know without it," said Fred Gardy, UNL assistant police chief.

Gardy, who knew what technology could do for managing events at the university, approached researchers at UNL's Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies, or CALMIT, in April 2003 with the idea of computer mapping the stadium to enhance safety and security during games.

CALMIT researchers adapted geographic information system, or GIS, software that they've successfully used in other research projects to accomplish the task.

The software pulls a variety of information and images together on a laptop computer, which can then be projected for easy viewing.

The stadium mapping system is a natural outgrowth of research at CALMIT, an international leader in GIS and remote sensing. It gathers information from afar using satellites, airplanes or cameras. The center's scientists focus on developing and adapting tools, such as computer software, to analyze land, air and water. These technologies can be adapted to analyze, map and track diverse environmental, natural resources, agricultural, urban, demographic and infrastructure issues.

CALMIT experts often consult with agencies on applying remote sensing and GIS technologies to assess practical issues. The center also devises systems that help state and federal agencies anticipate, manage and respond to livestock diseases, natural disasters and potential bioterrorism.

The stadium geographic information system is used in conjunction with a closed-circuit television system to monitor data such as blueprint information, evacuation routes, locations of vendors and many other pieces of information, giving police and emergency personnel up-to-the-second information on what's happening in and around the stadium.

Having all this information at their fingertips, accessible in many different ways, helps police, emergency and medical professionals quickly respond to emergencies, disturbances or situations that arise during a game. It also better prepares stadium personnel to deal with the threat of terrorism or natural or manmade disasters.

"It's the best possible solution for utilizing our resources to the fullest and making management of the stadium on a game day an easier and more efficient proposition," said Butch Hug, assistant athletic director for events.

The stadium security and mapping project was launched for the 2003 football season, and each time it is used has helped the research team add new layers of information and hone its effectiveness, said Sunil Narumalani, a remote sensing and geographic information specialist at CALMIT who heads the mapping system development team.

"We've had cameras watching over the stadium for five years, but until last season, we didn't have a way to tie them electronically to other security measures in the stadium," Yardley said.

The resulting picture of what's happening in the stadium during a game is comprehensive and immediate. The software also tabulates the specific number, types and locations of incidents typical to any college football game.

"Combining information on what's happening at the time with a year's worth of data from last season gives us a better idea of where police or emergency medical professionals may most likely be needed," Yardley said. "From the accumulated information, including starting times and weather conditions, we know to expect certain types of calls in predetermined parts of the stadium. We can then stage our personnel closer to those locations to improve response."

If someone suffers heat stroke or a heart attack, for example, those monitoring the computer program can easily match the emergency to the nearest first responders, and pinpoint where the closest and most appropriate medical help is seated based on a voluntary section and seat listing of medical professionals at the game.

"The software can further define who the medical professionals are -- for example, where a pediatrician may be seated to help with a sick child, or where a psychologist is that can help someone who might be unstable," Gardy said. "All this is just one example of how we can employ and query the vast amount of knowledge contained within this tool."

Officials can also use the laptop to monitor vehicles that stop near the stadium using strategically placed cameras and investigate if necessary.

"We know a lot more how to best allocate and stage our people and resources to shorten response time thanks to this software," Yardley said. "When we have a lost child, we can match their name to where their parents' seats are and take them back, rather than having to make a missing child announcement over the loudspeakers."

Representatives from the Lincoln and UNL police, Lincoln Fire Department and the Red Cross and a city traffic engineer view these computer-projected images from a command post near the stadium operated by university police.

"It's the only college or professional stadium in the country we know of that is almost totally computer mapped for facilities and activity," Narumalani said.

"No institution in any of the major conferences is anywhere close to having this kind of tool available to them," Hug said.

"If a terrorism incident were to occur in or near the stadium, the program gives us the kind of immediate and relevant information we would need to route people out of the stadium in the quickest and most efficient manner," Yardley said.

"The program could be used if a train carrying anhydrous ammonia, for example, derailed on the tracks north of the stadium," Gardy added. "It could tabulate wind speed and direction of the toxic plume and help us evacuate the stadium in the safest way."

UNL officials are expanding its use into mapping buildings, facilities, classrooms and services on City and East campuses, Gardy said.

Like the original stadium project, homeland security issues in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are one of the driving forces behind expanding the project, but the net gain will be more than terrorism preparedness, Narumalani said.

"Just as in the stadium, we'll be able to use the mapping program for things like routine maintenance and monitoring, as well as scheduling classroom space. Some day, the information could even be on campus kiosks that will help direct students to classrooms, or help their visiting parents find the closest restroom," he said.

There are no current plans to market the system elsewhere, "though I think this has significant potential if financial backing can be found," Narumalani said. He added that he's unaware of other efforts to create such a system.

The stadium mapping system is an outgrowth of CALMIT's ongoing research and ability to adapt that research and expertise to meet the needs of clients like the university police. The center is an international leader in geographic information systems and remote sensing research and development and is part of the university's School of Natural Resources.

The mapping project is funded in part by the university's Office of Business and Finance and by the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

In the image at the link below, UNL officials monitor and coordinate security, emergency and medical teams throughout Memorial Stadium with the help of a computer-mapping program. UNL officials said they believe it is the only such system in operation at a major college or professional stadium. Jared Burkholder (left), a remote sensing/GIS research specialist with the university's Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies, and Fred Gardy, UNL assistant police chief for operations, check the program as another sellout football crowd begins arriving to cheer on the Huskers. (Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources photo by Brett Hampton)

CONTACTS: Sunil Narumalani, Assoc. Professor, Natural Resources, (402) 472-9842
Owen Yardley, Chief, UNL Police Services, (402) 472-8809
Fred Gardy, Asst. Chief, UNL Police Services, (402) 472-4467
Butch Hug, Asst. Athletic Director for Events, (402) 472-1950