Enhanced Collaborative Disaster Management Through Interoperable Data Visualization

Project Lead: Karl Benedict (EDAC) StormCenter Lead: Rafael Ameller

Rapid access to shared data and information is the key to successful planning and response to disasters. StormCenter Communications has developed a highly interactive, distributed geospatial information collaboration environment that allows participants at separate locations to interact with and exchange spatially referenced data within the Google Earth environment. This collaborative exchange is based upon custom interface and communications tools that StormCenter has developed on top of the Google Earth platform. The Earth Data Analysis Center at UNM has extensive expertise in packaging data and visualization services for delivery into Google Earth through two key Open Geospatial Consortium Standards: KML (a data and representation standard) and Web Map Services (WMS, a map data visualization standard), both individually and in combination. This project will entail the coordinated development of additional key data products (published both as base WMS services, and as WMS services embedded within KML) that enhance the suite of data available through the Google Earth collaboration tool, integration of those products into the platform, and delivery of those products to disaster professionals already using the platform. The products of this work are expected to consist of the following:

• Increased integration of Earth Science data products into disaster planning and management
• Increased system performance in the collaboration environment through the packaging of large data sets (potentially multi-TB in size) into KML with embedded WMS-delivering targeted map images instead of entire data sets
• Demonstrated utility of integrating KML-wrapped WMS into the existing system – enabling the use of other published WMS services coming out of the Earth Science community (e.g. NASA NEO, NOAA NGDC)