Redlands, California—Esri, the world leader in mapping technology, today announced the top 13 finalists of Esri Climate Resilience App Challenge 2014. The challenge called for developers to create desktop, web, or mobile apps that enable communities to see, understand, and prepare for a more resilient and sustainable future. App submissions were built with Esri’s flagship ArcGIS platform, for designing and managing solutions through the application of geographic knowledge, and judged on their use of geographic information system (GIS) technology; data; and Esri apps, maps, services, and APIs. The winner of the challenge will be announced on Monday, July 14, at the Esri User Conference in San Diego.
“We created the Climate Resilience App Challenge to inspire all developers to think creatively and build resourceful apps that drive critical environmental decision making, affect climate change, and create a more sustainable future,” said Jack Dangermond, president, Esri. “We received high-caliber submissions and are thrilled to announce our top 13 finalists, each of which demonstrates technology that empowers communities to address climate change as we proactively work with President Obama to use geographic solutions to create a more resilient generation.”
With its mapping and spatial capabilities, Esri software enables users to perform deeper analysis and understanding of spatial and scientific information. Additionally, users can leverage the power of the ArcGIS platform to gain new and improved data insights in order to make quick and strategic decisions, helping users solve environmental issues related to climate change.
The company will provide three winners with over $15,000 in cash prizes or software equipment. The finalists include
- Modeling Community Erosion from Climate Change: Based on modeling current and future soil erosion with high-resolution scientific data, the app allows users to locate sites that are vulnerable to erosion, predicts soil loss driven by climate change, and enables users to investigate erosion risks for future land covers.
- Minnesota Solar Suitability Analysis: This app enables users to identify the suitability of a location for solar panel installations by locating their home or current location and querying solar analysis data.
- EveryDropLA: Encouraging water conservation, the app allows users to identify and directly report water waste, view instances of water waste around them, receive alerts to conserve when essential, educate themselves on water conservation, and engage the water community through social media.
- Coastal Resilience 2.0: Providing tools to reduce ecological and socioeconomic risks of coastal hazards, the app enables users to assess such risks, including those to current and future storms, as well as sea level rise scenarios; identify solutions to reduce risks across socio-ecological systems; take action to help communities develop nature-based solutions; and measure effectiveness to ensure efforts are successful.
- Flood Forecast: When users register their address, they receive push alerts notifying them when that address is in danger of flooding. This app analyzes National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flood advisories, identifies specific properties affected by floods, consumes forecast information to provide accurate weather reports based on the user’s location, and sends flood alerts via Twilio and the location of the nearest Disaster Assistance Center.
- Save the Rain: Users are able to make smarter choices and save water when it is available. The next time it rains, users can capture rainwater that lands on their homes and use it again to water plants, trees, and lawns; wash cars; and even flush toilets.
- Global Forest Watch Commodities—Geospatial Tools to Help Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Land-Use Change: This app provides three tools for businesses interested in good forest management: Suitability Mapper, which enables businesses to identify degraded areas best suited for commodity development as an alternative to clearing new forest areas; Forest Analyzer, which provides information on land cover and land use to monitor and evaluate change to forests on commodity concessions; and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Support tool, which users can complete for an analysis of forest change on certified areas and use the analysis for the compensation procedure required by RSPO while also enabling commodity buyers to make informed sourcing decisions.
- Community Resilience Inference Measurement: Measuring resilience to climate-related hazards at the county level for the United States, the app allows users to directly calculate the resilience index of places they choose and view the weights of the socioeconomic factors contributing to those scores. The app also provides factors that increase or decrease resilience.
- CommunityViz Web App: Providing users with the ability to open new opportunities for education, citizen engagement, and policy change, the app enables users to quickly share their analysis results—such as energy and greenhouse gas generation and possible energy futures—with their ArcGIS Online organization, select groups, or the general public.
- The Trust for Public Land Urban Heat Risk Explorer: Helping cities prepare for, respond to, and recover from extreme heat events, the app provides users with a better understanding of heat risks in cities and communicates with users on ways they can protect themselves during extreme heat events.
- Unity: Uniting entities that create the data needed to provide rich visualizations and insights into commuter habits globally, Unity enables unlimited public and private networks within a region to create behavioral changes and eliminate traffic by allowing users to sync data to Esri ArcGIS software for modal analysis. Users can also explore how each mode contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
- Culvert Inventory for Climate Resilience: Designed to meet the challenge of limited information on culverts throughout the transportation network, the app provides a user-friendly culvert inventory template, online video instructions, and support for citizen scientists to help transportation management agencies expand their knowledge of the culverts in their network.
- Local Food Alternatives in Washington County: The app provides information on the availability of local and seasonal produce from nearby farms, markets, and vendors to empower Washington County consumers to reduce their carbon footprint and support their local community.