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July 27, 2009
By Robert McClendon
Press Register
Alabama is leading the nation in its use of new imaging technology to prepare for disasters, federal and state homeland security officials said last week.
The state is so far ahead of the pack, they said, that it is even helping other hurricane-prone states get their own programs off the ground.
Jim Walker, director of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security, ran through the state system's capabilities during a presentation Thursday.
He and his staff have given the demonstration to other state governments and even abroad.
Virtual Alabama, as the system is called, is essentially Google Earth taken to the extreme.
In its most basic form, Google Earth — available to anyone with a powerful enough computer — lets users explore the globe from a street-level view, to a bird's-eye view, to a space- station's view and everything in between.
Technologists with the Alabama Department of Homeland Security have taken those same capabilities and added thousands more layers of data and information for counties across the state. The end result is far more than just a fancy map.
During his presentation, Walker's technology specialist zoomed in and out over a map of Alabama. Her mouse cursor danced across the screen: Flood maps were set over aerial shots to show possible hurricane damage. Government buildings and schools were mapped, complete with floor plans, to help potential first respond ers. Highway cameras scattered across the state showed traffic in real time.
Walker said the new technology will allow emergency responders to better react to disasters of all kinds.
As an example, he zoomed in over the city of Enterprise. Satellite imagery showed a section of town near the high school. The houses lined shady streets with neatly manicured lawns.
With a click of the mouse, the map transformed into an aerial view of the same neighborhood after a 2007 tornado devastated the landscape.
On top of the aerial view, Walker added a layer of real-estate information that showed property values — useful for when the state needs to give damage estimates.
Though it was developed primarily as an aid in emergency response, Gov. Bob Riley said, his office has also used it in economic development. Citing an unnamed foreign investor as an example, Riley said the maps have already been used to show prospective sites.
"There's not a state in the union that can't benefit from this technology," Riley said.
Walker and others who have had a hand in developing Virtual Alabama are al ready helping neighboring states get their own programs off the ground, said David Boyd, the director of the command, control and interoperability division of the federal Department of Homeland Security.
"In terms of putting it into practice, (Alabama) is really at the head of the pack," Boyd said.
Director Jim Walker gives a Virtual Alabama
demonstration/Robin Cooper- Office of
Governor Bob Riley |