Efficient rendering of natural hazards data in mobile GIS

Abstract

Mobile GIS can be valuable tools for emergency managers and first responders. For time critical applications, such as natural disaster management and response, efficient rendering of spatial data is essential. This letter introduces several methods that have been implemented as new mobile GIS tools for efficient rendering of natural hazard data, including double-buffering, multi-level memory buffering, local updating, patch rendering, interruptible rendering, data memory, and raster rendering. The time cost of each operation is obtained through experiments. Examples of data rendering for geological hazard and risk assessment are also provided.