



Editor’s Note:

[cross-posted from the Official Google Enterprise Blog Today's guest author is A.J. Clark, President of Thermopylae Sciences and Technology, which helps developers build new applications with the Google Earth browser plug-in on Google Earth Enterprise through the iSpatial framework. A.J. works on the visualization, analysis, and dissemination of disaster/post-conflict data with a focus on emerging technologies that support participatory, collaborative approaches to spatial content creation and infrastructure development.

In the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, an urgent need for geospatial data sharing arose. As aid organizations and governments rushed to help, the collection and sharing of large amounts of geographic information among many sources and users presented a daunting challenge.



In response, the United States Southern Command (

USSOUTHCOM

) made information and tools available through an

interactive mapping website

which they call a User Defined Operational Picture (UDOP), built on the

Google Earth Enterprise

platform to make visualizing the map and overlaid data easy and clear. Public sites are now available both for the

Haiti earthquake

and the

Chile earthquake

, where thousands of users can view, create, and edit spatial data (please note that you will be prompted to download the Google Earth plugin to view this data through these links.)





The system was rapidly deployed using an enterprise geospatial framework called iSpatial, which provides an open platform for the integration of dynamic data and the development of interactive applications. The data is displayed using the

Google Earth browser plug-in and API

, which enables the visualization of geographic data layers in the rich, 3D Google Earth environment, on any web page.



The breadth of data sources and content producers contributing to and making use of the UDOP reflected the global community supporting the relief effort. The combination of participatory geospatial content, the collaborative nature of the UDOP and the ability to integrate mobile applications as direct content producers is available for ongoing relief efforts. This is an evolving capability within SOUTHCOM as we break new ground in providing collaborative tools for humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.



to see imagery and maps in Google Earth, you can also download the Google Crisis Response KML files for Haiti and Chile