Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

1. World Meteorological Organization (WMO)Observing and Information Systems Department Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Presented 26 September 2008 at Joint Implementation-coordination Meeting on the GTS-WIS MTN and Meeting of the CBS Expert Team on GTS-WIS Operations and Implementation (ET-OI)by Eliot Christian <echristian@wmo.int>

2. Today's Public Warning Patchwork Every government has various public warning systems: • Weather by news wire, by radio, by television, by e-mail, by SMS text on cell phones ... • Earthquakes by e-mail, by news wire, by Web sites, by pagers, by telephone calls ... • Amber alerts by highway signs, by fax, by phone trees, by Web sites, by police radio... • Civil defense by television, by radio, by sirens, by police with bullhorns... • And on, and on ... Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

3. The New Strategy for Public Warning • Governments now realize it makes no sense to build separate public warning systems for each particular type of emergency and for each particular communications medium • Instead, efficiency and effectiveness argue for addressing public warning requirements with all-media coverage across all-hazards through the use of common standards Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

4. A Case in Point:The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) Standard CAP is a standard message format especially designed for All-Media, All-Hazard, communications: • over any and all media (television, radio, telephone, fax, highway signs, e-mail, Web sites, RSS "Blogs", ...) • about any kind of hazard situation (Weather, Fires, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Landslides, Child Abductions, Disease Outbreaks, Air Quality Warnings, Beach Closings, Transportation Problems, Power Outages, ...) • to anyone: the public at large; designated groups (civic authority, responders, etc.); or specific people Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

5. Google Earth example using open standards

6. Structure of a CAP Alert CAP Alert messages contain: • Text values for human readers, e.g., "headline", "description", "instruction", "area description", etc. • Coded values useful for filtering, routing, and automated translation to human languages Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

7. Internal Structure of a CAP Alert (e.g., XML)

8. The Content Standard for Alerts: CAPFiltering and Routing Criteria • Date/Time • Geographic Area(polygon, circle, geographic codes) • Status(Actual, Exercise, System, Test) • Scope(Public, Restricted, Private) • Type(Alert, Update, Cancel, Ack, Error) Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

9. The Content Standard for Alerts: CAPFiltering and Routing Criteria • Event Categories(Geo, Met, Safety, Security, Rescue, Fire, Health, Env, Transport, Infra, Other) • Urgency: Timeframe for responsive action(Immediate, Expected, Future, Past, Unknown) • Severity: Level of threat to life or property(Extreme, Severe, Moderate, Minor, Unknown) • Certainty: Probability of occurrence(Very Likely, Likely, Possible, Unlikely, Unknown) Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

10. Typical CAP-based Alerting Systems Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

11. Displaying CAP Alerts Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

12. RSS and CAP Feeds from USGS

13. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/catalogs/ RSS for USGS Earthquake Data

14. Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS) Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

15. The CAP Standard (X.1303) • Compatible with legacy as well as newer transports (WMO messages, news wires, digital TV, Web Services, ...) • Flexible geographic targeting • Phased and delayed effective time, expiration • Message update and cancellation features • May include inline digital images and audio • Approved by OASIS as Version 1.1 (2005) • Adopted as ITU Recommendation X.1303 (2006) • Significant uptake, many implementations Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

16. ITU Resolution 136 (Antalya, 2006) "The Plenipotentiary Conference [...] resolves to instruct the Directors of the Bureaux [...]to promote implementation by appropriate alerting authorities of the international content standard for all-media public warning, in concert with ongoing development of guidelines by all ITU Sectors for application to all disaster and emergency situations" Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

17. NEWS -- Federal Communications Commission --May 31, 2007FCC TAKES ACTION TO FURTHER STRENGTHEN NATION'S EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM "Washington, D.C. - The Federal Communications Commission today adopted [an Order that] requires [Emergency Alert System (EAS)] participants to accept messages using Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) [...] The use of CAP will help to ensure the efficient and rapid transmission of EAS alerts [...] in a variety of formats (including text, audio and video) and via different means (broadcast, cable, satellite, and other networks) [...] In addition, the Order expands the EAS system by requiring participation by wireline video providers." Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)

18. References CAP Implementers Workshophttp://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/ISS/Meetings/WIS-CAP_Geneva2008/DocPlan.html OASIS Emergency Management TC at http://www.oasis-open.org/ committees/emergency ITU-OASIS Workshop on Public Warning (2006)http://www.oasis-open.org/events/ITU-T-OASISWorkshop2006/proceedings.php Contact Eliot Christian <echristian@wmo.int> Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)