Futuríveis
segunda-feira, setembro 05, 2005
Katrina - Innovative Use of Google Earth, Wikis and Other technology
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In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of displaced residents and their relatives - along with people like Mr. Sprague - have turned to the Internet for information about a home feared damaged or destroyed. Many are using Google Earth, a program available at the Google Web site that lets users zoom in on any address for an aerial view drawn from a database of satellite photos.
By the end of last week, a grass-roots effort had identified scores of posthurricane images, determined the geographical coordinates and visual landmarks to enable their integration into the Google Earth program, and posted them to a Google Earth bulletin board - the place ZuluOne turned for help.
Most of the images originated with the Remote Sensing Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been posting them to its Web site (noaa.gov) since Wednesday.
Taking inspiration from the online volunteers, Google, NASA and Carnegie Mellon University had by Saturday night made the effort more formal, incorporating nearly 4,000 posthurricane images into the Google Earth database (at earth.google.com) for public use.
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Yet many who have no particular personal connection to the hurricane's devastation joined the effort.
Douglas Hillman, a disc jockey and dance instructor who lives near Chicago, created some 80 overlays. He said he was fascinated by Google Earth and also interested in "the results of a natural disaster, in the way people react to it, and also in the technology used to cover it."
As for methodology, Mr. Hillman says he downloads an aerial image from the NOAA Web site to his computer, then tweaks it with tools in the Google Earth software until it lines up as closely as possible with the existing satellite image.
"This is not an entirely precise process, as the pictures are taken from slightly different angles, so it's not exact," he said. But it is close enough to pinpoint houses, even cars.
Kathryn Cramer, a science fiction editor in Pleasantville, N.Y., whose Web site (www.kathryncramer.com) has served as a clearinghouse for overlay information, said the effort started early last week when she and a few others wondered about the exact location of a levee break and created an overlay using a photo from the news media.
"We were getting a lot of decontextualized disaster photos that didn't give you a real understanding of what was happening," she said.
In a related online collaboration, at www.scipionus.com, people are plastering a Google street map with electronic pushpins marked with information like "casino boats destroyed" and "minor wind damage." And at Google Maps, posthurricane images are also available for flooded areas of New Orleans.
Of the many lessons learned since the 2001 terrorist attacks, "one is that there is an overwhelming desire for geospatial data," said Mr. Aslaksen of NOAA. "It's become a tool as necessary as a word processor."
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For Victims, News About Home Can Come From Strangers Online - New York Times
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of displaced residents and their relatives - along with people like Mr. Sprague - have turned to the Internet for information about a home feared damaged or destroyed. Many are using Google Earth, a program available at the Google Web site that lets users zoom in on any address for an aerial view drawn from a database of satellite photos.
By the end of last week, a grass-roots effort had identified scores of posthurricane images, determined the geographical coordinates and visual landmarks to enable their integration into the Google Earth program, and posted them to a Google Earth bulletin board - the place ZuluOne turned for help.
Most of the images originated with the Remote Sensing Division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which has been posting them to its Web site (noaa.gov) since Wednesday.
Taking inspiration from the online volunteers, Google, NASA and Carnegie Mellon University had by Saturday night made the effort more formal, incorporating nearly 4,000 posthurricane images into the Google Earth database (at earth.google.com) for public use.
...
Yet many who have no particular personal connection to the hurricane's devastation joined the effort.
Douglas Hillman, a disc jockey and dance instructor who lives near Chicago, created some 80 overlays. He said he was fascinated by Google Earth and also interested in "the results of a natural disaster, in the way people react to it, and also in the technology used to cover it."
As for methodology, Mr. Hillman says he downloads an aerial image from the NOAA Web site to his computer, then tweaks it with tools in the Google Earth software until it lines up as closely as possible with the existing satellite image.
"This is not an entirely precise process, as the pictures are taken from slightly different angles, so it's not exact," he said. But it is close enough to pinpoint houses, even cars.
Kathryn Cramer, a science fiction editor in Pleasantville, N.Y., whose Web site (www.kathryncramer.com) has served as a clearinghouse for overlay information, said the effort started early last week when she and a few others wondered about the exact location of a levee break and created an overlay using a photo from the news media.
"We were getting a lot of decontextualized disaster photos that didn't give you a real understanding of what was happening," she said.
In a related online collaboration, at www.scipionus.com, people are plastering a Google street map with electronic pushpins marked with information like "casino boats destroyed" and "minor wind damage." And at Google Maps, posthurricane images are also available for flooded areas of New Orleans.
Of the many lessons learned since the 2001 terrorist attacks, "one is that there is an overwhelming desire for geospatial data," said Mr. Aslaksen of NOAA. "It's become a tool as necessary as a word processor."
...
For Victims, News About Home Can Come From Strangers Online - New York Times
posted by CMT, 12:00 da tarde
