SCC: Community-Based Automated Information for Urban Flooding

洪水是美国和世界各地最具破坏性的自然灾害，大多数洪水破坏发生在城市。然而，知道洪水何时发生并将风险传达给公众和急救人员的能力有限。与此同时，数字连接技术激增，其中许多技术掌握在普通公众的指尖上(例如智能手机)。需要的是能够从在正确的地点和时间收集的初步观测中产生的新的洪水信息，并结合更有效地将这种风险传达给社区的能力。该项目将开发综合洪水阶段观测网络(IFSON)，这是一个可以从人群中获取洪水信息(来自相机、智能手机应用程序和社交媒体)、智能评估洪水风险(使用机器学习)并实时传达这些风险的系统。IFSON将可扩展到任何社区或城市，并将为新的众包技术提供骨干。该项目将i)集成几种新技术(每种技术都直接与不同的社区接触)，以提供对城市洪灾危险的新见解和通信能力，ii)将一系列社区近乎实时地彼此连接(从普通公众到急救人员到基础设施管理人员)，并开发可在美国任何地方甚至国际上使用的洪水感知和避免能力，iii)开发关于城市形态如何导致洪水风险的新见解，利用以前的资金，将从业者与现有的可持续性研究网络联系起来，并向CUAHSI和eRam发送数据。此外，这项研究还将开展外展活动，教育公众和从业者洪水灾害是如何发生的、其影响以及如何减轻风险。这项研究将直接赋予和参与当地公民报告和应对洪水事件的能力，并探索一个具体的模式，说明拥有一个将洪水风险降至最低的“智能和互联社区”意味着什么。虽然这项工作受到一些新技术和新技术的推动，但这项工作的中心重点是社区与技术的接口，特别是现代网络技术如何使普通公民、城市规划者、第一反应人员和其他当地利益攸关方参与并聚集在一个共享的、以合作方式构建的信息空间中；其中包括广泛的教育和外联机会，以吸引利益攸关方并扩大项目影响。除了通过研究岗位培训学生外，该项目还将创建一个本科生暑期研究体验(REU)计划。它还将与多个学科的国家、州和地方社会建立联系。例如，该项目将在凤凰城季风准备日期间与凤凰城合作，教育急救人员如何使用项目成果。将开发和传播跨学科课程模块，展示如何让不同社区(包括公众、急救人员和基础设施管理人员)参与减轻洪水风险。此外，基础设施经理将被招募参加研讨会，了解项目数据将如何揭示对基础设施状况的新见解，以及可以采用哪些战略来减少风险。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Flooding is the most damaging natural hazard in the U.S. and around the world, and most flood damage occurs in cities. Yet the ability to know when flooding is happening and communicate that risk to the public and first responders is limited. At the same time there is a surge in digitally connected technologies, many at the fingertips of the general public (e.g., smartphones). The need is for new flood information that can be generated from primary observations that are collected in exactly the right places and times to be coupled with the ability to more effectively communicate this risk to communities. This project will develop the Integrated Flood Stage Observation Network (IFSON), a system that can take in crowd-sourced information on flooding (from cameras, a smartphone app, and social media), intelligently assess flood risk (using machine learning), and communicate those risks in real time. IFSON will be scalable to any community or city and will provide a backbone for new crowd-sourced technologies.This project will i) integrate several new technologies (each that directly engages with different communities) to provide new insights into and communication capacity around urban flooding hazards, ii) connect a range of communities to each other in near-realtime (from the general public to first responders to infrastructure managers) and develop flood sensing and avoidance capacities that can be used anywhere in the U.S. or even internationally, iii) develop new insights into how urban morphology contributes to flood risk, and iv) leverage prior funding by connecting practitioners from existing sustainability research networks and sending data to CUAHSI and eRams. Additionally, this research will develop outreach activities that will educate the public and practitioners on how flooding hazards occur, their impacts, and how to mitigate risks. The research will directly empower and engage local citizens in flood event reporting and response, and explores a concrete model for what it would mean to have a "smart and connected community" for minimizing flood risk. Although driven by a number of novel technologies and techniques, the central focus of this work is on the interface of community with technology and, in particular, how modern network technologies can engage and bring together ordinary citizens, city planners, first responders, and other local stakeholders within a shared, collaboratively constructed information space; a broad range of educational and outreach opportunities are included to engage stakeholders and amplify project impact. In addition to training students through research positions, the project will create a summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. It will also connect with national, state, and local societies across a number of disciplines. For example, the project will work with the City of Phoenix during their Monsoon Preparedness day to educate first responders on how to use project results. Interdisciplinary course modules that show how to engage various communities (including the public, first responders, and infrastructure managers) in mitigating flood risk will be developed and disseminated. Additionally, infrastructure managers will be recruited to participate in workshops on how project data will reveal new insights into the condition of infrastructure and what strategies can be employed to reduce hazards.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.