Guest post by Michael Grasso, Environmental Studies ’13
G.I.S. has an extremely large variety of applications. With G.I.S. one could map an area affected by a natural disaster in order to analyze the extent of the damage, the value of the property damaged, and how different areas were affected differently. G.I.S. can even be used just to help someone visualize the totality of the damage that occurred.
One such disaster that has been mapped was the F5 tornado that ravaged Joplin, Missouri on May 23, 2011. There are many different maps that are available to the public that can used for different applications.
This link is a google map created using G.I.S. that one could use to assess what property was damaged or completely destroyed. It also labels different areas based on an average amount of damage as well as marking where the tornado begins, changes in intensity and direction, and when it dissipates.
This link is primarily to help someone visualize the affects of the tornado. This map was created using G.I.S. and is basically a before and after picture where you can zoom into different areas.
http://gis.wustl.edu/Joplin.HTML
This is a picture of the Joplin High School after the tornado’s destruction