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Overview
Now in its sixth year of providing situational awareness to federal, state, and local emergency managers, the PhotoMappers team is responding to the 2022 hurricane season. PhotoMappers is an ongoing partnership between NAPSG Foundation, CEDR Digital Corps, and GISCorps; learn more about previous seasons here.
In this series of missions, GISCorps volunteers work together scouring social media and news outlets to find publicly shared photos of on-the-ground conditions and damage in areas affected by natural disasters. Collaborating in a dedicated Slack channel, team members carefully geolocate each photo using clues in the image or the accompanying text. They then upload them using a Survey123 form embedded in a Volunteer Portal built in Experience Builder. Each photo is vetted by a specially trained Admin Team member who also adds a primary lifeline and a damage score.
Photos that have been vetted are viewed by emergency managers and first responders on maps and dashboards. These applications, as well as the raw data, are publicly available on NAPSG’s PhotoMappers Hub Site.
2022 Activations
New Orleans Tornado
On March 21st, a series of thunderstorms led to a tornado outbreak in Texas continuing overnight into Louisiana then Mississippi and Alabama. Initially, the PhotoMappers Admin Team was asked to map photos from the damage in Texas to run system checks prior to hurricane season. Then on the evening of March 22nd, a tornado (given a preliminary rating of EF3) formed in a suburb of New Orleans that has seen multiple hits from hurricanes in the passed few years. A small team of experienced volunteers and the Admin Team quickly jumped in and focused efforts in Arabi, LA. During the activation, CEDR Digital Corps’ social media bot was instrumental in helping locate informative photos and NAPSG’s Adam Fackler assisted with the backend technical process. The following GISCorps volunteers supported the activation: Hannah Larsen, Kelli Brock, Keith Johnson, Emilie Pratt, Mackenzie Fox, Todd Kesselring, Hannah Gonzales, Evelyn Gomez, Rebecca Parsons and Peg Gronemeyer each participated in this mission, which was managed by GISCorps Core Committee member Erin Arkison with assistance from Holly Torpey.
Project Complete.
Remnants of Typhoon Merbok, Hurricane Fiona
From September 16th – 20th, 2022, the #Photomappers team mapped almost 300 photos in response to two incidents. The remnants of Typhoon Merbok caused widespread flooding in towns across western Alaska, beginning the evening of Friday the 16th and extending through the weekend. Meanwhile, then Tropical Storm Fiona was approaching the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Fiona matured into a category 3 hurricane, causing severe flooding, power outages, and damage to transportation networks throughout Puerto Rico from the evening of Saturday, September 17th into Monday, the 19th. In response to a request from the NAPSG Foundation, the #PhotoMappers team found, mapped, and vetted images posted to social media related to both incidents. CEDR Digital Corps aided the effort by locating a large number of photos for the team to map. The NAPSG team hosted and updated the team’s web applications and mapping portal. The following GISCorps volunteers supported this activation: Brad Fisher, Christina Brunsvold, Emilie Pratt, Keith Johnson, Dacey Zelman-Fahm, Alyssia Church, Hannah Gonzales, Mackenzie Fox, John Haddad, Rebecca Parsons, Megan Wunderlich, Lyndsey Davis, Todd Kesselring, Alicia Tyson, Kelli Brock, Ingrid Jourgensen, Hannah Larsen, Nicholas Chiavini, and Johnathan Clementi. The mission was managed by Erin Arkison, Holly Torpey, and Katie Picchione.
Project Complete.
Hurricane Ian
Hurricane Ian made landfall near Fort Myers, Florida as a Category 4 storm on September 28th, 2022. In the preceding days, the Photomappers team prepared to activate and was ready to start mapping when the NAPSG Foundation requested an activation early on the 28th. Over three days, the team mapped an impressive 457 images, following Ian from Florida to the Carolinas to Virginia! Over 40 motivated volunteers supported this activation from GISCorps and CEDR Digital Corps. A number of GISCorps volunteers mapped photos for the first time! CEDR volunteers set up an automated twitter feed to find new photos more easily and helped with mapping as well. Leveraging a joint Slack workspace, the Photomappers Admin team guided new mappers to success and kept the project running amid a flurry of juggled schedules. Partners at Esri created a prototype photo ticker viewer (below) designed for emergency managers. The team stood down Friday evening, September 30th, as fewer new photos were appearing on social media and overhead imagery collections were underway.
Deepest thanks to all volunteers who participated in this activation!
- GISCorps Photomappers Volunteers: Michelle Schmitz, Chinatsu Endo, Josh Green, Crystal Fraley, Micah Babinski, Jessica Way, Shaylin Muhonen, Tiffany Y. Chau, Lyndsey Davis, Michelle Hooper, Wanmei Liang, Alyssia Church, Todd Kesselring, Eric Sharpe, Sadie Barker, David Thell, Om Goeckermann, Megan Wunderlich, and Patience Farmer
- GISCorps Photomappers Admin Team: Jason San Souci, Kelli Brock, Mackenzie Fox, Brad Fisher, Hannah Larsen, Emilie Pratt, Johnathan Clementi, John Haddad, Hannah Gonzales, and Keith Johnson
- CEDR Digital Corps Volunteers: Melissa Swenson, Rob Neppell, and Scott Adams
Thanks also to the NAPSG foundation for maintaining the Photomappers portal and providing support throughout the activation. This project was managed by Erin Arkison, German Whitley Holly Torpey, with support from Katie Picchione.
Project Complete.
November TX-OK Tornadoes
On the evening of November 4th, 2022, a string of tornadoes caused severe damage in towns across northeast Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. NAPSG foundation asked the PhotoMappers team to activate for a quick mapping effort to support this state-level disaster. The team was able to locate 36 photos that evening and the following day. The team stood down in the evening on November 5th. This activation was supported by Keith Johnson, Hannah Larsen, Erin Arkison, Holly Torpey, and Katie Picchione.
Project Complete.
Hurricane Nicole
After first making landfall in the Bahamas on November 9th, Nicole made two more landfalls as a Category 1 hurricane in Florida on November 10th, first in Vero Beach and then near Cedar Key before weakening and heading north over the Florida Panhandle. Seven PhotoMappers volunteers participated in this brief activation.
Project Complete.