How NOAA uses Mapbox to provide crucial context in an emergency
By: John Dombzalski
As we head into the peak of hurricane season, emergency response teams and agencies are making sure they have everything in place to respond quickly. For NOAA, that means being ready to visualize the potential reach of a storm and assess it’s impact at a moments notice.
NOAA’s Remote Sensing Division (RSD) collects aerial imagery of coast lines before and after a storm. Using field survey techniques, photogrammetric methods, and fixed wing aircrafts they provide the imagery and information needed to assess damaged areas and give analysts, auditors, and the public a comprehensive view of the extent of the damage, allowing them to respond quickly to needs.
During the 2017 hurricane season, North America was inundated with back-to-back hurricanes throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Southeastern United States. People all over the nation viewed RSD’s maps to plan evacuations and see the storm damage from a safe distance. With the sudden increase in interest, our architecture was able to rapidly scale and meet user demand without interruption.
NOAA also helps people see a storm before it hits. Last year, they wanted to provide the contextual information needed to plan evacuations, but also show live storm radar. Our team helped custom style their maps by showing them how to throw their labels on top of storm radar, and how to turn off layers they did not need — helping their map show just the right amount of information.
Want to view the impact of last year’s hurricanes for yourself? Take a look at the impact of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. If you need help hosting imagery or rapidly scaling, get in touch with our team.
Ready to respond was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.