IS428 AY2019-20T1 Assign Lim Zi yuan
VAST 2019 MC2: Citizen Science to the Rescue
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Problem
One of St. Himark’s largest employers is the Always Safe nuclear power plant. The pride of the city, it produces power for St. Himark’s needs and exports the excess to the mainland providing a steady revenue stream. However, the plant was not compliant with international standards when it was constructed and is now aging. As part of its outreach to the broader community, Always Safe agreed to provide funding for a set of carefully calibrated professional radiation monitors at fixed locations throughout the city. Additionally, a group of citizen scientists led by the members of the Himark Science Society started an education initiative to build and deploy lower cost homemade sensors, which people can attach to their cars. The sensors upload data to the web by connecting through the user’s cell phone. The goal of the project was to engage the community and demonstrate that the nuclear plant’s operations were not significantly changing the region’s natural background levels of radiation.
When an earthquake strikes St. Himark, the nuclear power plant suffers damage resulting in a leak of radioactive contamination. Further, a coolant leak sprayed employees’ cars and contaminated them at varying levels. Now, the city’s government and emergency management officials are trying to understand if there is a risk to the public while also responding to other emerging crises related to the earthquake as well as satisfying the public’s concern over radiation.
Motivation
With the data at hand, we will apply visual analytics to help St. Himark's emergency management team better understand conditions and identify likely locations that will require further monitoring. The visualization aims to complete the following:
- Visualize radiation measurements from both static and mobile sensors
- Identify areas of concern within St. Himark
- Identify locations of contamination
- Ascertain effectiveness of existing sensors
- Advice on future measures to be taken
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