Geospatial Mapping of Coastal Communities of Alabama EDA Grant #: G004824.

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Geospatial Mapping of Coastal Communities of Alabama EDA Grant #: G004824

Transcript of Geospatial Mapping of Coastal Communities of Alabama EDA Grant #: G004824.

Page 1: Geospatial Mapping of Coastal Communities of Alabama EDA Grant #: G004824.

Geospatial Mapping of Coastal Communities of Alabama

EDA Grant #: G004824

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Problem Statement

Hurricane storm surge and wash of sand and debris inland frustrates clean-up effort

Heavy Equipment damages fixtures covered by debris and sand

50% or more of the damage inflicted on critical utilities during the clean-up effort

$17 million of damage in 2008 hurricane season

Preventing damage to fixtures means city will be able to allow residents and tourists to return sooner and businesses to restart

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Current Condition

Each utility company has print or electronic maps in different formats

Little coordination during clean-up effort

No information sharing system in place to deliver plans to clean-up personnel

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Phase I of Project: 2006-2007

Barry Cumbie, then Ph.D. student worked under Dr. Sankar’s guidance

Two focus group discussions held in Baldwin countyPolicy recommendation made to City: Community

stakeholders and especially those involved in public policy are advised from the results to recognizing the deep interdependencies of organizations and the community as well as the value of engaging in relationships to overcome the task of collecting, protecting, and effectively using critical infrastructure data in the interest of post-disaster recovery using geospatial technologies.

NSF Grant #: 0332594

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Phase 2 of Project: Pilot Study in Gulf Shores, AL, 2008

Pilot study area established from intersection of 6th Street and West Beach Boulevard to approximately 1.5 miles east of Hwy. 59 on East Beach Boulevard

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Pilot Study: Field Work

Chetan Sankar & P.K. Raju: Project Leaders

Call for help from City of Gulf Shores

AU students participated as part of a class

Instructed by employees of Volkert Engineering on the operation of the handheld GPS units

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Pilot Study: Field Work

Infrastructure data such as the locations of electric utilities such as meters, cables, transformers, telecommunication utilities such as fiber optic cables, phones, and phone pedestals, switch stations, and water and gas utilities were entered into the database

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Integrating and Compiling the Information

GPS units and camera attached to computers located at City of Gulf Shores city hall

Data was downloaded to the computer and then uploaded into Arc GIS program

Utility fixtures locations were labeled and flagged on computer screen

Data from local water, gas, electric utilities were scanned and entered into the system

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Utility Plans Input in System

Established a plan for sharing information with the utility companies

Scanned hardcopy of plans into city computer system using large document scanner

Made annual updates of utilities’ data to the city mainframe and backup server

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Pilot Study: Output

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EDA Federal Domestic Assistance

Second Supplemental Appropriation: Disaster Relief Opportunity, Effective: 1/9/2009

Help devise long-term economic redevelopment strategies

Carry out implementation activities to address economic development challenges in regions impacted by hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters during 2008 and covered by a major disaster declaration

Baldwin & Mobile counties in AL are eligibleWe submitted a proposal: May 2009

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Current Project: 2009-2011

A Geospatial Information System database (GISDB) will capture, store, and display infrastructure data

Using GPS units, the infrastructure data will be collected in the coastal area with sub-meter precision latitude and longitude intersections and uploaded to a GIS platform.

The data can then be accessed from a centralized database served by Virtual Alabama.

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Project Team: Two year project

David Mixson, Walker Jackson P.K. Raju

Chetan S Sankar, Amit Mitra

Barry CumbieSteve Henderson, Diane Brown

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Current Partners in the Project

• AL Department of Homeland Security, Joe Davis• Baldwin County EMA, Leigh Royals• Mobile County EMA, Ronnie Adair• AL Emergency Management Agency, Jeff Byard South Alabama Regional Planning

Commission (SARPC), Russell Wimberly & Dianne Burnett

Department of Geography & Geology, AU, Luke Marzen

Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance, Bob Higgins

Geospatial Training and Application Center, Chris Johnson & Scott Saint

Dauphin Island Water & Sewer Authority: Vaile Feemster

City of Bayou La Barte, Stan Wright

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Potential New Partners in Project

Cities of Orange Beach & Fort Morgan

Utilities catering to AL coastal community

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Project Goals

Problem Benchmark / GoalThere is no regional model of infrastructure data sharing among multiple partners in coastal regions.

Effectively identify issues related to data storage, sharing, and security among coastal cities, utilities, and other stakeholders in Mobile and Baldwin counties of Alabama

Critical community infrastructure data needs to be collected, stored and backed up as new buildings, roads, and utilities are installed.

Effectively collect, store, and retrieve infrastructure data from multiple partners in the Alabama coastal community

During a disaster, ad-hoc facilities and practices often bypass physical and access controls used under normal operations.

Train the first responders and county personnel on effective use of the GIS data

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Model for the Project: Co-Creation of IT Value

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Scope of Project: Baldwin County Coastal Area + Industry Clustures

Estimate 200 miles to be surveyed

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Information Flow

Utility 1

Utility 2

Utility 3

AU Students Collect GPS Data in Area

MunicipalityCleanup Contractor provided information via Google Earth file

Local Emergency Management Agency

Alabama Department of Homeland Security

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Upload data to Virtual Alabama

Virtual AlabamaUse of Topcon UnitStudents learn basics of GPS technology &

how it is integrated into IT applicationsThey also learn the use of ArcGIS & link to

Virtual Alabama

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Benefits: Advance Productivity, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship

40% of reconstruction costs can be eliminated if geospatial data are available on-line

Time to recover from damage is expected to be halved due to the availability of these data

Will make economic impact of this project very attractive

The concept of geospatial mapping of a coastal area is innovative;

Successful implementation of this project has the potential to spawn companies that might do similar mapping across other coastal areas of the U.S. and other countries.

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Benefits: Look Beyond the Immediate Economic Horizon

Prevent further infrastructure damage during disaster recovery Real-time GPS coordinates to contractors, inspectors,

and other recovery personnel At first, “flag” critical infrastructure locations to avoid

damage Develop procedures, policy, and experience with

securely collecting, storing, and disseminating GIS-based infrastructure data

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Issues Resolved and yet to be Resolved

MOA signed between AU, AL DHS, & Virtual Alabama

MOAs being signed between AU, AL DHS, & individual public/private partners

Security of data will continue to be an issueCounty EMA need to have access to the geospatial

data & provide this information to contractors who perform clean up after a disaster

Need for incentive systems so that EMA/ contractors want to use the geospatial data in recovery efforts

Similar geospatial data can be collected for other areas that has potential for disasters

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Questions & Contacts

• Chetan S. Sankar, Principal Investigator, [email protected], 334 844 6504• David Mixson, ATAC, Co-PI, [email protected], 334 844 3887• Amit Mitra, Assoc. Dean, Co-PI, [email protected], 334 844 4833• P.K. Raju, Co-PI, [email protected], 334 844 3301• Barry Cumbie, Senior Investigator, [email protected], 601-266-4648• Steve Henderson, GIS Coordinator, Gulf Shores, [email protected] , (251) 968-1179