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Geospatial information systems help agencies like NOAA and the State Department make decisions using data visualization tools.
Federal officials recently said they are using geospatial information systems (GIS) to support missions such as the climate crisis and monitoring the locations of war criminals. Esri’s annual federal GIS conference was held last week in Washington, DC.
The State Department uses GIS Officials said during the meeting that it was to monitor the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The platform has helped hold Russia accountable for war crimes such as forced adoptions and starvation, and has even issued two arrest warrants.
“We have focused our efforts on ensuring we develop potential evidence to hold the alleged perpetrators of atrocities to account. This is particularly important for the Ukraine Conflict Observatory. , is actually one of the key focuses,” the conflict chief said. Caitlin Howarth, an observation team based at Yale University’s Humanitarian Institute.
Howarth and others at the Ukraine Conflict Observatory are working to use effective imagery, open source data, and evaluate metadata to get the most accurate answers. The example Howarth gave looked at how likely medical facilities are targeted at a higher rate than other facilities.
“You would expect to see differentiation in terms of less clustering and less shelling at these sites, and we’re seeing that that doesn’t exist,” Howarth said. “What we have instead documented is that in Mariupol, Ukraine, medical facilities are actually damaged at four times the rate of buildings of comparable size.”
In addition to mapping attacks on facilities, Howarth’s team mapped “systematic damage” to agricultural storage in Ukraine. In collaboration with our national laboratory team and partners at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we developed an algorithm using AI and machine learning to safely and reliably identify crop storage facilities.
“[We were able to] We performed an analysis using open source materials to identify crop storage facilities, conducted a comprehensive analysis on a national scale, and published the results, but in doing so, we ensured that the location of the entire site was protected. Therefore, there was no need to disclose information that would effectively improve targeting. It is in the capacity of any party to the conflict,” Howarth said.
Predict sea level rise levels for your community
Members from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Old Dominion University, and Esri discussed a recent case study on sea level rise and coastal resilience in Norfolk, Virginia.
“We have great people at NOAA building the science that my team uses to do flood modeling and storm surge modeling,” said George McLeod, a coastal oceanographer and director of the Center for Geospatial Research at Old Dominion University. states.
The team created a map showing the areas of the city that would be most affected by “existing flooding problems” in 2050 and 2100. Using data from the 2022 Interagency Technical Report on Sea Level Rise and a virtual reality (VR) headset, users can create a realistic view of what their neighborhood will look like if no action is taken. You can check various sea level scenarios.
“We strive to leverage them and help people make nuanced plans for the future. The region has had six of the top 10 floods since 2000. ” said NOAA oceanographer Karen Kavanaugh. “These scenarios come from computer models and observational data. They are based on the best real science available, and what we visualize is truly a trusted dataset.”
McLeod cited Dangermond’s opening presentation and recent conversations about digital twins, GIS tools that allow users to create live replicas of cities, businesses, and more.
“This is the best science modeled in virtual reality, trying to provide the most accurate depiction possible to the end user,” McLeod said. “We try to do the right thing as much as we can. And when we realize we’ve made a mistake somewhere, [we say] Let’s do better. ”
Mitigating health problems caused by climate change
“All of these climate-driven health challenges require collaborative, strategic responses rooted in both science and technology, which is why geography and a geographical approach are so powerful,” Esri Este Geraghty’s Chief Medical Officer and Director of Health Solutions said at the event.
Geraghty and John Barbas, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity, are using GIS to address health disparities and mitigate health system surges during extreme weather events and pandemics. Masu.
Barbas said his office is using an action-oriented approach to provide health care providers and communities with the tools they need to address the effects of climate change.his office established 30-90 day forecast Enabling regions of the United States to predict heat emergencies, wildfires, and droughts in a static narrative format. Balbus and his team Interactive map using forecasts We use county data to show which areas are at the highest risk of negative health outcomes.
“You can come to your county.” [in the portal] “We can then learn about the specific demographics and other population characteristics of the people we most want to target for issues related to drought, heat, and wildfires,” Barbas said.
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