Information foraging and sense-making with heterogeneous information are context-dependent activities. Thus visual analytics tools to support these activities must incorporate context. But, context is a difficult concept to define, model, and represent. Creating and representing context in support of visually-enabled reasoning about complex problems with complex information is a complementary but different challenge than that addressed in context-aware computing. In the latter, the goal is automated system adaptation to meet user application needs such as location-based services where information about the location, the user, and user goals filters what gets presented on a small mobile device. In contrast, for visual analytics-enabled information foraging and sense-making, the user generally takes an active role in foraging for the contextual information needed to support sense-making in relation to some multifaceted problem. In this paper, we address the challenges of constructing and representing context within visual interfaces that support analytic reasoning in crisis management and humanitarian relief. The challenges stem from the diverse forms of information that can provide context and difficulty in defining and operationalizing context itself. Here, we focus on document foraging to support construction of geographic and historical context for facilitating monitoring and sense-making. Specifically, we present the concept of geo-historical context and outline an empirical assessment of both the concept and its implementation in the Context Discovery Application (CDA), a web-based tool that supports document foraging and sense-making. We also discuss the CDA’s transition into applied use for the United Nations to demonstrate the generality of underlying CDA concepts.

The need for improvement of societal disaster resilience and response efforts was evident after the destruction caused by the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. We present a novel conceptual framework for improving disaster resilience through the combination of serious games, geographic information systems (GIS), spatial thinking, and disaster resilience. Our framework is implemented via Project Lily Pad, a serious geogame based on our conceptual framework, serious game case studies, interviews and real-life experiences from 2017 Hurricane Harvey survivors in Dickinson, TX, and an immersive hurricane-induced flooding scenario. The game teaches a four-fold set of skills relevant to spatial thinking and disaster resilience, including reading a map, navigating an environment, coding verbal instructions, and determining best practices in a disaster situation. Results of evaluation of the four skills via Project Lily Pad through a “think aloud” study conducted by both emergency management novices and professionals revealed that the game encouraged players to think spatially, can help build awareness for disaster response scenarios, and has potential for real-life use by emergency management professionals. It can be concluded from our results that the combination of serious games, geographic information systems (GIS), spatial thinking, and disaster resilience, as implemented via Project Lily Pad and our evaluation results, demonstrated the wide range of possibilities for using serious geogames to improve disaster resilience spatial thinking and potentially save lives when disasters occur.

Within the response and recovery phases of the disaster management cycle, debris clean-up is a well-researched topic, around which numerous policies have been developed. However, the subcategory of electronic waste is an issue that is overlooked by existing studies. A theoretical case study of a flood of the Rhine river in Bonn, Germany is used to demonstrate that while electronic waste may be a small portion of the debris generated during a disaster (by volume), it can have disproportionately large health, economic, and environmental consequences if not effectively planned for and handled. A spatial analysis of a flooding disaster scenario in Bonn was conducted to estimate the quantity of electronic waste that could be generated from residential buildings. Further modeling was done to calculate the greenhouse gas savings, energy savings, and economic impacts that can be realized through proper recovery and recycling of the electronic waste created by the flood. One key finding is that while implementation may be difficult, ensuring that effective policy is in place prior to a disaster can enable this waste stream to be managed in a manner that mitigates negative impacts on the environment and human health and keeps valuable materials in circulation.

This study examines social disparities in U.S. K–12 school flood exposure and the distribution of federal disaster recovery aid for affected schools. Using national datasets on school locations, flood hazards, and socioeconomic characteristics, we analyze (1) the spatial patterns of schools within 100-year flood zones, and (2) factors associated with the local receipt of FEMA recovery aid for schools. Our findings reveal substantial regional variation, with flood-prone schools concentrated in the Southern and Gulf Coast states. Local geographic conditions are consistently associated with schools’ flood exposure across most states. Schools in communities with higher poverty rates and larger Hispanic populations are more likely to be located in flood zones. Regarding recovery, greater FEMA aid is allocated to schools in localities with greater damage, larger populations, and more schools in floodplains. The relationship between social factors and aid is mixed: communities with lower incomes and larger Hispanic populations receive less school aid, yet aid levels are also positively correlated with poverty rates. This study contributes to understanding school flood exposure and social equity in disaster recovery, offering insights for policymakers, urban planners, and school administrators to develop targeted mitigation strategies and promote more equitable recovery for flood-prone schools.

This research considers the relationship between spatial cognition and situation awareness, or "spatial awareness" in a refugee camp. Specifically, we present some of the first research on spatial awareness using empirical data collected in the Za'atari Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. Results showed clear spatial awareness differences between male and female in terms of camp infrastructure completeness. This result is likely based on the underlying cultural dynamics of the refugee population. We outline areas for future refugee spatial awareness research such as community asset mapping. A better understanding of how refugees maintain spatial awareness in camp settings can inform GIScience research aimed at (a) identifying new methodologies and educational pathways for supporting spatial awareness in long-term displacement situations, (b) refugee camp design, and (c) space/time representations to ultimately improve the lives of people that are forced to leave their homes and countries due to natural disasters or armed conflicts.

Broadcasting emergency notifications during disasters is crucial, particularly in Monroe County, NY, which is home to one of the largest per capita Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) populations in the United States. However, text alerts may not effectively reach DHH individuals who are in a state of reduced responsiveness, like sleep, placing them at great risk. This paper presents cloud-based platform designed to deliver emergency alerts with visual and haptic feedback. A prototype utilizing an off-the-shelf IoT device demonstrates how alerts can be received via vibration and light-based feedback. The platform aims to be accessible to DHH community, providing its own solutions to maintain haptic devices and receive critical alerts in real time. This work contributes to the literature on IT solutions for bridging the communication gap between text-based alerts and intuitive visual/haptic communication, enhancing emergency response readiness for the DHH community, ultimately improving safety and potentially saving lives.