Oil Spill Cris Map [from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade]

I’m always impressed at how quickly important events are mapped these days.  As you have probably noticed, I am very interested in the ways GIS tools are used to visualize data and help us understand our world using maps.  That will be the subject of an upcoming, and much longer, blog post.  For now, let me just mention this great new project of made by students at Tulane University in conjunction with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

It uses the Ushahidi mapping tool, an Open Source project that lets people visualize and map data that is collaboratively collected using SMS, email, and web sites.  It’s a cool tool in itself.  The way it is being used for the Oil Spill Crisis Map is exciting too.  People in Gulf Coast communities and around the world can use it to track the impact of this massive oil spill, all in real time.  This could be useful information for students interested in environmental policy, public policy and environmental science, among other fields.

More maps and forecasting is available from NOAA here.