Providing Improved Access to Real-time Data for Flood Response in Hawaii

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Services Center (PSC) developed a geographic information system (GIS) application to provide improved access to real-time data to emergency managers in Hawai`i. This project was a partnership between PSC and other NOAA offices, including the National Weather Service (NWS) Pacific Region Headquarters and the Honolulu Forecast Office, the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Islands Water Science Center, the State of Hawaii, and the local Civil Defense agencies. The GIS application offers a centralized, Google Maps-based interface for viewing real-time data provided from multiple organizations and sources. The application uses ArcGIS Server to transfer the various data into a standard geographic format, and serves this information out within mapping services to the client application for easy viewing and interaction. Real-time data incorporated into the application includes precipitation, stream flow, active watches and warnings, satellite imagery, and weather radars. This real-time data can be combined with local, critical facilities data for enhanced decisions during flood response.