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Berman, Merrick

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Berman

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Merrick

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Berman, Merrick
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.f1b7dd22-b9ba-4889-8511-5bb92772afcd

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    The growing role of web-based geospatial technology in disaster response and support
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) Kawasaki, Akiyuki; Berman, Merrick; Guan, Wendy
    This paper examines changes in disaster response and relief efforts and recent web-based geospatial technological developments through an evaluation of the experiences of the Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, of the Sichuan (2008) and Haiti (2010) earthquake responses. This paper outlines how conventional GIS (geographic information systems) disaster responses by governmental agencies and relief response organisations and the means for geospatial data-sharing have been transformed into a more dynamic, more transparent, and decentralised form with a wide participation. It begins by reviewing briefly at historical changes in the employment of geospatial technologies in major devastating disasters, including the Sichuan and Haiti earthquakes (case studies for our geospatial portal project). It goes on to assess changes in the available dataset type and in geospatial disaster responders, as well as the impact of geospatial technological changes on disaster relief effort. Finally, the paper discusses lessons learned from recent responses and offers some thoughts for future development.
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    WorldMap – A Geospatial Framework for Collaborative Research
    (Informa UK (Taylor & Francis), 2012) Guan, Wendy; Bol, Peter; Lewis, Benjamin; Bertrand, Matthew R; Berman, Merrick; Blossom, Jeffrey
    WorldMap is a web-based, map-centric data exploration system built on open-source geospatial technology at Harvard University. It is designed to serve collaborative research and teaching, but is also accessible to the general public. This article explains WorldMap's basic functions through several historical research projects, demonstrating its flexible scale (from neighborhood to continent) and diverse research themes (social, political, economic, cultural, infrastructural, etc.). Also shared in this article are our experiences in handling technical and institutional challenges during system development, such as synchronization of software components being developed by multiple organizations; juggling competing priorities for serving individual requests and developing a system that will enable users to support themselves; balancing promotion of the system usage with constraints on infrastructure investment; harnessing volunteered geographic information while managing data quality; as well as protecting copyrights, preserving permanent links and citations, and providing long-term archiving.