Podcast: California Fire Maps - How Can We Do Better?
By Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg
October 29, 2007
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If you are still wondering which mobile GPS you should buy for your GIS data collection and mapping projects: Download our white paper to see how our MobileMapper 6 GPS beats the competition with better accuracy and lower price. Visit Magellan ProfessionalMash-ups and other Web 2.0 tools took center stage at many California media outlets this week as they tried to keep up with the latest information on the fires in that state and serve it to readers. The efforts were truly spectacular, and one My Maps implementation became a Web favorite (1.2 million views) as well as a resource for first responders. This week we look at those efforts and look ahead to what might be done better in the future. The podcast is 16 minutes long and was recorded on October 29, 2007.
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- Mapping The Southern California Fires (List of maps/resource by Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land blog)
- LA Times Interactive Map
- KPBS Map
- San Diego Union Tribune Map
- OC Register Map
- Geocommons data (Fortius One Blog)
- Telascience Map (OpenLayers)
- Chris Schmidt on above app (Technial Ramblings blog)
- Sanborn Makes California Wildfire Threat Maps Available (press release)
- Social Media - News - The Fire - KPBS (Fast Forward Blog)
- Hyperlocal Live Fire Maps: How to Do it? (Poytner E-tidbits)
- CA Wildfire Coverage: Intriguing Online Approaches (Poynter E-tidbits)
- L.A. Times Wildfire Map (Poynter E-tidbits)
- Cal Fire Mashups: Sources? (All Points Blog)
- Suggestions for Future Mapping/Coverage of Fires (All Points Blog)
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| I very much enjoyed your podcast on the CA fires and particularly the use of geospatial technologies, specifically what could be done in future. It very much match my thoughts as I tracked the available data and maps on the web since Sunday 21st. While a lot of the Google maps provided basic information that folks in CA needed, I felt there was definitely a lack of detailed information available. However, I did want to identify one error related to Sanborn. You inadvertently identified that Sanborn provided imagery of the fires. This is not correct. As early as Wednesday 24th Sanborn had posted detailed maps of all fires showing perimeters that were updated throughout the day(s), overlaid with our Wildfire Risk Information Product that had been developed for CA. maps have been continually published throughout the week (including today the 30th) as new updated perimeter data has become available. The Wildfire Risk product, released in 2006 is readily available to insurance and government agencies. During the wildfire crisis we published maps leveraging this data product at no cost during the events of the week to aid many of our colleagues and clients in CA.s. I invite you to check out the maps that are available from our web site at http://www.sanborn.com/solutions/ca_wildfires_2007.asp . you will see that these are detailed maps that utilize highly accurate fuels and risk information. Several of the San Diego agencies do indeed utilize this product and we provided it at no cost to San Diego County to use during the crisis. As the leader provider of geospatial wildfire risk information, we realized our GIS data product represented the best available data and proactively made this available. We had posted notices to key agencies and news agencies throughout the latter part of the week notifying them these maps were available. Unfortunately with our focus on getting the maps out to folks we weren’t able to get a press release out until Friday. Now that the event is winding down the focus is heavily on recovery and damage assessment. Sanborn is actively involved in this process flying high aerial resolution imagery for San Diego County to aid in assessing damage, burn severity and recovery efforts. I hope this information helps. I just wanted to clarify how active Sanborn had been and the quality of the GIS wildfire risk product we provide. |
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| Your report was very informative; I would like to add GeoMAC.gov to your list of sources for fire information. GeoMAC is a real-time Internet mapping system that allows Wildland Fire Managers and the public to pinpoint the location and size of existing wildfires using geospatial technologies, via the user’s browser. GeoMAC was created in August of 2000. The demand for fire resources exceeded the capabilities of national firefighting resources. Across the west, priorities were being set by geographic area fire coordination centers for allocating fire-personnel based on life, safety, property, and protection of natural resources. Determining these factors requires more than the traditional paper tools--printed maps and situation reports often do not give the complete picture of the affected areas. MODIS satellite data is fed into the application twice a day. There are links to the Remote Access Weather Stations (RAWS) data and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). Wildfire perimeter data are updated daily based on information from incident intelligence sources GPS data, IR imagery from fixed-wing aircraft and satellites. GeoMAC allows users to manipulate map information by zooming in at various scales. The user can view information on individual fires such as the fire name, fire location and perimeter, current acreage and other fire status information. Meta-data for the data is available on the site. I hope this information is useful and you take a look at GeoMAC. |
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