Common Alerting Protocol: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:34, 28 November 2011

Revision as of 07:40, 9 September 2012

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The '''Common Alerting Protocol''' (CAP) is an [[XML]]-based data format for exchanging [[Emergency population warning|public warnings]] and emergencies between [[alerting technologies]]. CAP allows a warning message to be consistently disseminated simultaneously over many warning systems to many applications. CAP increases warning effectiveness and simplifies the task of activating a warning for responsible officials.

Individuals can receive standardized alerts from many sources and configure their applications to process and respond to the alerts as desired. Alerts from the [[United States Geological Survey]], the [[Department of Homeland Security]], [[NOAA]] and theState [http://edis.oes.ca.govand CaliforniaLocal Officegovernment of Emergency Services]agencies can all be received in the same format, by the same application. That application can, for example, sound different alarms based on the information received.

By normalizing alert data across threats, jurisdictions and warning systems, CAP also can be used to detect trends and patterns in warning activity, such as trends that might indicate an undetected hazard or hostile act. From a procedural perspective, CAP reinforces a research-based template for effective warning message content and structure.