Climate Impact Visualization Tools Using Virtual 3D City for Community Based Planning and Outreach

Intelligent Automation, Inc. proposes an innovative visualization tool that transforms online GIS mappers into a climate impact assessment and planning tool that allows planners to visualize the impact of storm surges with sea level rise and coastal erosion using a 3D virtual city. The goal is to assist planners and emergency services to adapt to climate change at three tiers: i) Tier 3 (Long-term Planning & Near-term Mitigation): facilitate city planning, zoning, and building code decisions, and mitigation plans such as levees and barriers for existing structures, ii) Tier 2 (Readiness): facilitate in developing mitigations actions to minimize the extent of material damage from a forecast weather even within 120 hours of landfall, and iii) Tier 1 (Response): establish a community-based tiered communication mechanism (built on the top Commercial Mobiles Alert System (CMAS)/Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) systems) to plan for efficient use of limited emergency service resources within 48 hours of storm landfall. Key features are: the use of Unity 3D Game Engine based visualization, integration with SLOSH generated storm surge data, coastal inundation model, and community based outreach tool.