ArcGIS Online

Creating Effective Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Resources for the Nevada Division of Emergency Management

In 2020, the State of Nevada’s Department of Public Safety began discussing the possibility of using Esri’s ArcGIS disaster response and damage assessment solutions to support emergency preparedness, response, and recovery more efficiently and effectively within its Division of Emergency Management (DEM). With Blue Raster’s extensive knowledge on these configurable solutions, Nevada’s DEM selected our team to partner together to build out the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) Tool utilizing ArcGIS in Nevada’s specific environment.

NVDEM Damage Assessment

With the PDA Tool, Nevada’s DEM is able to:

  • Conduct initial damage assessments following natural disaster(s) or destructive event(s)
  • Capture the extent and severity of damage to property
  • Streamline evaluation of need for resources and acquisition of resources after disaster(s)
  • Aid emergency management
  • Collect damage reports
  • Perform initial assessments
  • Monitor the impact of disaster(s)
  • Provide critical information to stakeholders and the public

For the next few months, our team collected the necessary data to bring into the ArcGIS applications; configured and tested the disaster-management capabilities; and created several workflows in ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Hub, Survey123, and ArcGIS Dashboards that would soon be presented to Nevada representatives from the state and local levels, as well as tribal lands.

To successfully build out the services Nevada DEM needed, our team also collaborated with Esri to secure the purchasing of Surge Licensing activated through Esri’s Disaster Response Program and requested through the State. With Surge Licensing, the division can request as many additional licenses as needed during the time of a disaster response without having to manage a large number of users on a day-to-day basis.

Nevada DEM’s PDA Tool utilizes:

  • ArcGIS Online to host and serve out content to the applications within the PDA Tool—including ArcGIS Dashboards, Survey123, and ArcGIS Hub
  • ArcGIS Dashboards to provide a comprehensive, at-a-glance view of the data and monitor trends
  • Survey123 so data can be collected via forms that are built into the tool; this includes operational surveys that can be accessed through the Damage Assessment Content group

ArcGIS Hub which offers a public site for county and local users and an internal destination for Nevada DEM; it also serves as a platform for connection and engagement between government entities and residents and promotes resources and data that are useful to the community

ArcGIS Experience Builder which is the configurable solution Blue Raster used to build the PDA Tool web application

In 2022, once the PDA Tool was in a good place, Nevada DEM brought in stakeholders—who were county officials, DEM employees, and local community and tribal leaders—so our team could deliver a series of trainings in their Emergency Operation Centers (EOC). Blue Raster GIS Analyst Andrew Patterson traveled to Carson City and Las Vegas to provide on-site, day-long trainings at the Nevada EOCs. These sessions included hands-on demonstrations, out-in-the-field practice, and thorough documentation so attendees could take what they learned during the training back to their communities and teach other people how to use this beneficial tool.

“Providing on-site training for Nevada DEM was a fantastic learning and teaching experience. I was able to work directly with the DEM’s GIS project manager and lead grants coordinator to provide day-long trainings at both the Carson City EOC and North Las Vegas City Hall. We used these trainings to not only showcase and teach the Preliminary Damage Assessment Tool but to also provide education on damage assessment best practices and its importance.” – Andrew Patterson, GIS Analyst, Blue Raster

NVDEM Training

Be Prepared in the Face of a Disaster

Blue Raster excels in creating fully operational emergency-management solutions. Interested in learning more? Contact us today to tell us more about your needs.

TrailsMV Mobile Application: Explore Martha’s Vineyard’s Nature Trails

TrailsMV mobile app is the modern day treasure map   

The TrailsMV mobile application is an immersive experience developed by Blue Raster in collaboration with the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation (SMF) and their conservation partners. Designed to cater to hiking enthusiasts, residents, and visitors of Martha's Vineyard, MA, TrailsMV offers an interactive guide to over 220 miles of public trails spread across one hundred protected properties. 

This easy-to-use app allows users to: 

  • browse places to explore through the interactive map 
  • explore Martha's Vineyard trails with confidence through in depth property details 
  • get important alerts about trail closings and guided hikes    
  • learn about the island's rich natural history 
TrailsMV Mobile

TrailsMV provides a comprehensive resource for adventurers through detailed maps, property descriptions, and upcoming event listings. Moreover, users can access curated excursions, informative seasonal articles, and stay informed about upcoming events.

Featured in The New York Times, TrailsMV is an interactive guide to 220+ miles of public trails on more than 100 protected properties across the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

One key feature of the project is the seamless integration of ArcGIS Online data and maps with relevant contextual information, such as photos, text, and directions. Blue Raster developed flexible and repeatable backend workflows to consume dynamic content in the application. Leveraging Survey123 allows the team at Sheriff's Meadow Foundation the power to update, add, or remove content from the app without need for a developer to manually make modifications.

TrailsMV was built using AppStudio for ArcGIS and the ArcGIS Runtime API for Qt (Runtime). With Esri’s recent retirement announcement of ArcGIS AppStudio, Blue Raster will work with Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation on migration options to a new framework.

Incorporating the power of ArcGIS Online, Survey123, and thoughtful design, TrailsMV Mobile Application brings the beauty of Martha's Vineyard's trails to the fingertips of users, empowering them to explore, connect with nature and others, and discover what the island has to offer.

Featured in The New York Times, is an interactive guide to 220+ miles of public trails on more than 100 protected properties across the island of Martha’s Vineyard.

Download TrailsMV Today

Available in the Apple AppStore and the Google Play Store!

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Building Bridges to Progress: The Inter-American Development Bank’s HIT Platform for Infrastructure and Transport

Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plays a pivotal role in financing sustainable, social, economic, and institutional development. With a mission to support transportation and infrastructure projects across South and Central America, the IDB collaborates with various partners to drive positive change in the region.

Blue Raster collaborated with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to develop the Hub de Integracion y Transporte (HIT) Platform, a groundbreaking initiative that serves as a regional infrastructure and transport hub, consolidating and presenting crucial information layers for effective planning and decision-making.

IDB HIT Platform

The HIT Platform offers an innovative solution by providing a comprehensive platform that combines key information related to infrastructure, logistics, value chains, projects, climate change, Covid impacts, and development perspectives. This platform acts as a powerful planning tool and an invaluable information repository, catering to the needs of government officials, Mesoamerican stakeholders and IDB specialists. The HIT Project is divided into six modules, each utilizing the robust capabilities of the ArcGIS Online suite of solutions and incorporating custom-developed features to address specific requirements. Recognizing the linguistic diversity of the region, all modules of the HIT Platform were developed in Spanish. The HIT Platform encompasses a series of interactive web applications and dashboards developed with ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Dashboards.

IDB HIT Platform IDB HIT Platform

The HIT Platform offers a personalized user experience by incorporating customized list and pop-up elements. These interactive components allow users to access specific information related to infrastructure, logistics, and value chains conveniently. By tailoring the user interface to meet specific requirements, the platform enhances usability and efficiency. To enable intuitive data visualization, the HIT platform project utilizes data-driven symbology, a feature within ArcGIS, to dynamically represent information based on various attributes. ArcGIS Arcade expressions, a flexible scripting language within ArcGIS, are employed extensively throughout the HIT project to ensure accurate and consistent data cleaning and formatting. By leveraging Arcade expressions, the platform achieves seamless integration and harmonization of diverse datasets, enhancing data quality and reliability.

Through its effective utilization of ArcGIS Online and its suite of applications and customization options, the HIT Platform sets a benchmark for effective planning and information management in the region, fostering positive change and driving sustainable growth.

Empowering Freshwater Communities and Indigenous People through Immersive StoryMaps

Freshwater ecosystems contain an incredible 10% of the world’s known species and support the livelihoods of billions of people including many Indigenous Peoples and local communities. However, since 1970, freshwater plants and animals have declined by 84% due to threats like poor fisheries management, watershed degradation and overuse. The Nature Conservancy is partnering directly with local communities around the world to apply traditional knowledge and co-create new, science-based conservation strategies.

To tell the story of its partnership with these Indigenous People and Local Communities, The Nature Conservancy employed the services of long-time partner, Blue Raster to develop a series of Storymaps to shed light on TNC Freshwater Community-Led Conservation Program’s work with freshwater communities and indigenous people, highlighting their efforts to propagate and enhance community-led conservation initiatives across Africa and Latin America.

TNC's collaboration with communities in Africa is focused on three critical regions: the Bas Ogooué wetland area in Gabon, the upper catchment of the Okavango Basin in Angola, and the remarkable Lake Tanganyika, which borders Tanzania, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi. In Latin America, TNC's collaboration with communities extends to the Andean Amazon region in Ecuador, Colombia, and the Tapajos River Basin in Brazil. These ecosystems are not only home to remarkable biodiversity but also provide essential resources and cultural heritage for indigenous peoples. By partnering with local communities, TNC aims to strengthen their capacity to manage and protect their ancestral lands sustainably.

Blue Raster's expertise in utilizing ArcGIS StoryMaps has allowed TNC's conservation efforts to be communicated effectively, enabling users to engage deeply with the stories being shared. By combining rich media, interactive maps, and engaging narratives, the StoryMaps create a powerful medium for storytelling. The StoryMaps developed by Blue Raster incorporate compelling graphics, audio soundscapes, maps developed and published in ArcGIS Online and high-resolution images, capturing the essence of the fisheries, landscapes, communities, and wildlife that TNC works tirelessly to protect. These visuals not only enhance the aesthetic appeal but also serve as a means to evoke emotions and foster a sense of connection with the featured regions. Developed in English, the StoryMaps created are also available in African French, Latin American Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese translations.

These maps not only offer a geospatial perspective of TNC's work but also provide users with an opportunity to explore the geographical context and understand the intricate relationships between freshwater habitats and communities. Through the interactive maps, readers can visualize the conservation initiatives, the areas of focus, and the significance of indigenous and local community participation. By utilizing ArcGIS StoryMaps as a powerful storytelling tool, TNC can effectively communicate its vision for the future, emphasizing the importance of continued partnerships and collaborative efforts with indigenous people and local communities. The immersive nature of the StoryMaps helps stakeholders envision a future where freshwater ecosystems thrive, and IPLCs actively contribute to their protection.

The collaboration between Blue Raster and The Nature Conservancy is a testament to the power of technology and partnerships in conservation efforts. Through the creation of immersive StoryMaps, TNC's work with freshwater communities and indigenous people in Africa and Latin America is brought to life. By amplifying these stories in local languages, Blue Raster and TNC empower communities to take an active role in preserving their natural heritage and build a future where people and nature thrive in harmony. Together, they are forging a path towards a more sustainable and equitable world.

“The Freshwater Community-Led Conservation Program is excited about our story map, made in partnership with Blue Raster. We hope those who engage will learn about the important efforts of the local communities, partners and TNC staff in freshwater fisheries and biodiversity conservation and feel invited to participate. The story map platform both allowed us to tell the efforts of our program as a cohesive unit across our work in Latin America and Africa and allowed us to highlight the unique impacts specific to local communities and partners.”
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Allison Aldous, Director of the Freshwater Community-Led Conservation Program

HSF Affiliates Sets Out on a Mission to Improve Mapping Capabilities and Customer Service

HSF Affiliates is a global organization that operates some of the most recognized real estate brands in the world, including Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Real Living Real Estate, and Prudential Real Estate. As a leading provider of real estate services, HSF Affiliates requires the ability to manage and analyze vast amounts of data to better serve its clients and customers in the areas where they are located.

Building a Roadmap to Success

To achieve this goal, HSF Affiliates turned to Blue Raster. As an award-winning geospatial technology company that specializes in data analysis and data visualization, our team was tasked with finding a solution to improve existing technologies designed to visualize data, so moving forward, team members could better understand the market they’re in.

One critical task involved in this project was identifying required changes for importing files with existing scripts and determining, assessing, and resolving needed script modifications. Additionally, our team reviewed and updated the geographies used for zip codes, cities, and counties within the United States, as well as available county postal code data throughout Europe and Southeast Asia.

USZipCodes_HSFAffiliates

Revolutionizing Data Analysis and Visualization for HSF Affiliates

In doing so, we were able to help HSF Affiliates update and improve their processes for analyzing and visualizing data. This means that HSF Affiliates can now better manage and improve data reliability for their GIS team and real estate offices worldwide by determining whether available organizational unit polygons and points can replicate the same level of production as produced with the United States’ data. They can also recognize the required script changes based on the organizational units' data quality. In addition to updates and improvements, we provided ad-hoc services at the request and direction of HSF Affiliates and their team to ensure that all needs were met.

Mission Accomplished: Empowering Global Data Management and Reliability with Blue Raster

Thanks to the expertise and customer service at Blue Raster, HSF Affiliates can now efficiently manage and improve data reliability for the various members of the GIS team and their real estate offices worldwide. Our team's extensive knowledge of the latest GIS technologies and the Esri ArcGIS platform, combined with our corporate culture of creativity, long-lasting relationships, and high technical standards, allowed us to deliver a cost-effective, successful project for HSF Affiliates. This is another great example of how teamwork and finding the right partners can help you achieve your goals.

Could your team benefit from data management and visualization capabilities? Contact Blue Raster today and let us help you achieve your data-driven goals!


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