A method and system for providing centralized deployment and coordination of field assessment activities. In accordance with one embodiment, an emergency management data processing system includes a field assessment database for storing and processing layered geospatial visual portrayal data and field surveillance attribute data. The emergency management data processing system includes an event setup data input interface for receiving an event identifier associated with an emergency event, a location identifier identifying a portion of the layered geospatial visual portrayal data corresponding to a region affected by the emergency event, and a field surveillance attribute category identifier specifying a category of the stored field surveillance attribute data. The event identifier is then associated with the region data and the specified field surveillance attribute data to generate an event-specific field assessment record.