Advancing the Understanding of Risk, Extreme Weather Impacts, and Disasters with Interactive and Emerging Technologies

Abstract

Humans are faced with an ever-increasing amount of risk due to disaster events and extreme weather. Understanding this risk via the use of data and scientific findings is critical for decision makers who are tasked with employing limited resources to strengthen resilience in their communities. Data often resides in silos and is spread across organizations and government agencies. Given the large amount of information that is available, but sometimes difficult to understand outside of a research perspective, there are many technologies that can be employed to help translate this information into easier-to-understand interfaces. A technology system that effectively synthesizes data and translates information (from trusted and specific places) from across multiple sources and helps decision makers “connect the dots” is crucial for future decision-making tools. As climate change exacerbates disasters, these technologies have the potential to greatly improve the outcomes of the inevitable events that impact peoples' lives and livelihoods. The primary difficulty is not acquiring data, but synthesizing, interpreting, and communicating it effectively. Cinematic Data Visualization (CDV) is essential here. Moving beyond static graphics, engaging CDV implementation is transformative, vastly improving our collective ability to understand complex, disparate information. By offering shared, interactive environments, CDV facilitates interdisciplinary communication, allows rapid exploration of uncertainties and scenarios, and establishes a common operational picture necessary for timely risk management decisions across all phases of a hazard event. These advanced visualization methods fundamentally accelerate the transition from data visualization to actionable insight .