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(Radio Chatter)
>>Narrator: When responding to a
natural disaster,
knowledge and speed are
critical.
You need to get information and
technology into the right hands
and to the necessary locations
as quickly as possible.
In these situations,
seconds can cost lives.
The RIT Information Products
Laboratory
for Emergency Response
sponsored by NSF's Partnerships
for Innovation Program
combines expertise in
imaging science,
mathematics,
and computer science,
to provide the best possible
tools for disaster response.
Through the use of high quality
imaging and remote sensing
tools, IPLER scientists
are creating spatially explicit
information
extracted from air and
space borne imagery.
Sophisticated algorithms and
high-performance computing are
then used to create detailed
maps and 3-dimensional
visualizations of disaster zones
based on the imaging data.
This information can be used to
assess the level of damage to a
building,
predict the movement of a
forest fire
or assist in identifying
survivors.
IPLER technologies have
enhanced the response to
Hurricane Irene
the 2011 Japanese Tsunami and
the 2010 Haitian Earthquake, in
collaboration with IPLER
partners, University at Buffalo,
Image Cat, and Kucera
International.
In Haiti, IPLER, worked with an
international consortium of
agencies and corporations,
including the World Bank and
Google, to map the devastation
and better route responders by
capturing high-resolution color
and thermal imagery.
For RIT students
IPLER has served as a
tremendous educational vehicle
and a perfect real-world
learning platform.
Numerous masters and doctoral
candidates
have assisted in developing
IPLER tools and analyzing the
data collected from past
disasters.
The hope for all involved is
that IPLER will create a new
paradigm in disaster response
and assist in developing our
next generation of imaging
scientists
and disaster responders.
♪ MUSIC ♪