Maps in the Natural Disasters Networking Platform (NaDiNe) — meeting the users’ needs: from static images to highly interactive real-time information integration

Abstract

Maps are one of the most important information sources for people working in the context of natural disasters. Recently established concepts in information technology and Geoinformatics allow for sophisticated mapping architectures based on distributed static and real-time data. Within the Natural Disasters Networking Platform (NaDiNe) established by the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, several concepts have been established to exploit the full use of the Internet for providing maps in the context of natural disasters. In different use cases, an overview of current developments in the framework of NaDiNe is given. Starting with simple user-adapted maps that are linked via HTML, WebMapServices are integrated in order to provide interactivity with the user. With respect to data sources, approaches to integrate simulation results, real-time measurements and rapid mapping results are sketched. In a further use case it is shown that the Internet can also be used to collect data from distributed sources. For earthquakes in Germany, a web-based architecture that gathers intensity data via the Internet has been developed.