Integrating Geographic and Meteorological Data for Storm Surge Planning

Abstract

In this chapter, we propose a system which integrates storm surge projection, meteorological, topographical, and road data to simulate storm surge conditions. The motivation behind the system is to serve local governments seeking to overcome difficulties in persuading residents to adhere to evacuation notices. The storm surge simulation system introduces an alternative to traditional evacuation advisories which are often superimposed over two-dimensional maps and distributed through television, newspaper, and other public outreach media. First, topographic data are used to construct virtual replicas of cities in the State of Florida. Storm surge data are then used to construct a virtual ocean positioned over the city models. Ambient details such as wind, vegetation, ocean waves, and traffic are animated based on up-to-date meteorological data. Videos of the storm surge visualizations are recorded and made available to coastal residents through a web-interface. The three-dimensional visualization of geographic and storm surge data provides a more visually compelling representation of the potential effects of storm surge than traditional two-dimensional models and is better able to prepare coastal residents to make potentially life-saving evacuation decisions.