As climate change drives rising seas and more frequent extreme weather, communities need accessible, location-specific tools to understand and prepare for future flood risks. Translating complex climate models into actionable insights remains a challenge, especially when communicating risks to the public and decision makers in a clear and engaging way.
Climate Central is a nonprofit organization of scientists and communicators who translate climate data into maps, images, and local stories. Their mission is to help people understand how climate change affects their lives today and in the future. Their tools have informed journalists, planners, and community leaders across the country and around the world.
Partnering to Advance Climate Resilience
To support this mission, Blue Raster partnered with Climate Central to develop and scale FloodVision, a new ArcGIS Experience Builder application that delivers immersive, street level views of future flood scenarios. This innovative tool enables planners, emergency managers, educators, and residents to visualize flood risk driven by sea level rise and storm events across multiple timelines.
FloodVision is powered by imagery captured through Climate Central’s FloodRover, a vehicle equipped with GPS, lidar, and stereoscopic cameras. Blue Raster supported the deployment of this application within ArcGIS Enterprise, configuring its data model and workflows to power a smooth, interactive experience.
Two datasets in the ArcGIS Data Store, a metadata table and a spatial feature class, are linked by a unique key and drive the application's functionality. The application is built using ArcGIS Experience Builder, which provides a flexible, modern framework that is fundamental to creating an immersive and responsive user experience.
Flood images, stored as JPEGs in Google Drive, are linked using item IDs. Blue Raster created custom Python scripts to clean, organize, and publish this data to the ArcGIS platform. Additionally, Blue Raster implemented an ArcGIS Survey123 form to allow users to easily request and download visuals directly from the app for noncommercial use.'
Building Tools for Impact
With FloodVision, Climate Central is helping communities visualize future flood risks with clarity and precision. The platform supports planning, public education, and resilience strategies by making climate data understandable and locally relevant.
At Blue Raster, we believe in the power of GIS for Good, using geospatial technology to drive meaningful change, inform communities, and support organizations working toward a more sustainable and equitable future. We collaborate with mission driven partners to build tools that make complex data accessible, actionable, and impactful. In the face of climate change, we are committed to advancing climate resilience through innovative geospatial solutions.
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