NACIS 2019

Mapping the wave - depicting tsunami hazards in Washington
Presenter: Daniel Coe, Washington Geological Survey
Large tsunamis have inundated the Washington coast in the past, and they will do so again in the future. Conveying accurate information about this natural hazard to the public is challenging. The Washington Geological Survey produces tsunami inundation and current speed maps, as well as maps of pedestrian evacuation times and routes. These maps help emergency managers and public officials communicate what we know about tsunamis to the public, increasing community resilience and preparedness.

Designing "Beat the Wave" Tsunami Evacuation Maps
Presenter: Joanna Merson, InfoGraphics Lab, University of Oregon
Co-Presenters: Alethea Steingisser, InfoGraphics Lab, University of Oregon; James Meacham, InfoGraphics Lab, University of Oregon; Greg FitzGerald, InfoGraphics Lab, University of Oregon; Jonathan Allan, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries; Laura Gabel, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
If an offshore earthquake known as a 'Cascadia subduction zone event' occurs, it will inundate the west coast within tens of minutes. According to the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI), survival for the majority of the population will require spontaneous evacuation on foot. Knowing where to go and how fast you have to travel to "Beat the Wave" is important to know beforehand. DOGAMI partnered with the UO InfoGraphics Lab to design a template for evacuation wayfinding maps for coastal Oregon communities. This presentation will share the design process and decisions that went into creating the template.

User centered volcanic hazard maps for New Zealand's volcanoes
Presenter: Danielle Charlton, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Co-presenters: Jan Lindsay, University of Auckland; Mary Anne Thompson, University of Auckland; Michael Martin, University of Auckland; Graham Leonard, GNS Science, New Zealand
Recent volcanic crises across the world highlight the need for more useful and usable hazard maps tailored to the needs of users. When developed, communicated, and used appropriately hazard maps represent a central point for discussion and mitigation of volcanic risk. A new and novel interdisciplinary project based in New Zealand aims to combine recent research on user centered design and cartography with lessons from hazard mapping experiences to develop, test and implement a new operational framework for volcanic hazard map development. A draft version of this co-created map framework will be presented and open for discussion.

Developing a Custom Grid System for Penn State's Emergency Responders
Presenter: Fritz Kessler, Penn State University
Co-presenters: Yu Zhong, Penn State University
During Penn State's home football games, emergency responders need to quickly and accurately communicate locations in the expansive parking lots surrounding Beaver Stadium. Penn State rests in the Ridge-and-Valley physiographic province where the terrain is aligned southwest to northeast. This alignment creates a rotation heuristic that is problematic when locating features (e.g., "north" of a building is really "northeast"). Facing this problem, emergency responders requested a custom grid system that provides an unambiguous way to locate features around Beaver Stadium. This presentation will review the development and evolving design of this custom grid system for emergency responders.

Mapping cross-scale impacts of storm surge events: Considerations for design and user-testing
Presenter: David Retchless, Texas A&M University at Galveston
Cartographic display of cross-scale phenomena and user-centered design are considered through a discussion of the development of an interactive web map depicting local-to-national economic impacts of hurricane storm surge events in Galveston Bay, Texas. Map development and design (as informed by stakeholder focus groups) is described, including approaches to presenting complex, cross-scale impacts of surge events across multiple years and scenarios. Particular consideration is given to how designs may communicate complexity without overly taxing users' mental and perceptual resources (measured via NASA task-load index) or outstripping their mapping/domain expertise. A demo of the resulting map will accompany the presentation.