SBIR-STTR Award

Much of the earth science research data available is shared across departments and agencies and often made available to the public. But sharing isn't enough. As federal organizations increasingly consult one another for expertise, the need for functional platforms that foster collaboration becomes vital. The proposed innovation aims to develop the tools for open source geobrowsers, specifically: COAST (Coastal On-line Assessment and Synthesis Tool) and NASA's World Wind Java (WWJ), to communicate over local networks and the Internet to create a real collaborative experience over computer desktops, greatly increasing the quality of the decision support tools available to government agencies and emergency management, especially when it is most needed: just after a disaster has struck. The ultimate objective would be to develop a fully interoperable virtual "geo-collaboration environment" of software and hardware that delivers accurate information on emerging situations while collaborating with distributed partners, advisors, specialists and authorities in various jurisdictions.

The innovation aims to develop the tools for multiple geobrowsers to communicate over the Internet to create a real collaborative experience over computer desktop virtual globes when dealing with any type of geospatial information. These functions are especially important when dealing with decision makers, who frequently are non-GIS experts that require visualizing their own assets on a map, like their firefighter engine positions, combined with external expertise and other relevant datasets, like NASA MODIS wildfire hotspots, creating actionable geospatial information to make better informed and timelier decisions. The ultimate objective would be a fully interoperable multi-platform collaborative decision environment that delivers accurate information on emerging situations while collaborating with distributed partners, advisors, specialists and authorities in various jurisdictions, regardless of the virtual globe, hardware or operating systems used.