Tasks and Comments

Mini-Challenge 1: Crowdsourcing for Situational Awareness

Challenge Overview

Data

Interactive Visualization & Reference

Tasks and Comments

Tasks

Task 1

Emergency responders will base their initial response on the earthquake shake map. Use visual analytics to determine how their response should change based on damage reports from citizens on the ground. How would you prioritize neighborhoods for response? Which parts of the city are hardest hit? Limit your response to 1000 words and 10 images.

Visualization #1	Earthquake Shake Map with Location
Visualization
Insight	Based on the pre-quake shake map and major quake shake map, the emergency responders will start with location 3 and location 4, as they are the first two areas affected by the earthquake. Area 2, 14, 18, 13, 12, 11 and 7 are affected during major quake subsequently. The level of damage is not clear and needs to be investigated with the damage reports from citizens. Additionally, there are three bridges fall into the area of the earthquake: the Jade Bridge, the 12th of July Bridge, the Himark Bridge.

Visualization #2	Comparison of the Neighborhood Report with Shake Maps
Visualization	As the pre-quake shake map and the major quake shake map are generated on 6th and 8th April, a comparison should be done between the shake maps and the neighborhood report on the same two days. To get a general overview, the number of records for each location is plotted against the average shake intensity reported.
Insight	From the first visualization, it is shown that on 6th April, the average shake intensity reported is very high for location 4, and relatively high for location 3, 7 and 12. This aligns with the pre-shake map. From the second visualization, it is shown that on 8th April, the average shake intensity reported is high for more locations. In general, it aligns with the major-shake report, with one exception: location 2 is an affected area from the major shake report, but the reported average intensity is not very high. The total number of report for location 8 remains the highest for both days, although it is not a major affected area. This might due to the high concentration of residency of the city's elite and powerful.

Visualization #3	General Overview of the Neighbourhood Report
Visualization
Insight	From the time series visualization, it is observed that location 3 -- the old town, was hit the hardest. Safe town(location 4), Wilson Forest(location 7) and Pepper Mill(location 12) should be investigated for resource allocation priority.

Visualization #4	Detailed Damage Investigation for Target Locations
Visualization
Insight	By Comparing the four locations, it is observed that the Old Town is hit the hardest for all facilities. For Safe Town, there is constant high rating damage report throughout the whole period for all facilities; For Wilson forest, the data points are fewer and the reported damage has relatively lower ratings. Spcial attention is needed for the Road and Bridges as the Willson Forest Highway is located in that area; For Pepper Mill, the overall condition is similar to the safe town, with a higher median damage rating for Road and Bridges.

With the above investigation, it is concluded that the highway condition at Wilson Forest needs to be examined first, as possible damage will delay the resources and rescue team to enter St.Himark. This is the first priority.
The old town needs immediate action taken as there are a large community of people being affected by the earthquake, the reported damage rating is also the highest among all locations;
Immediate but fewer resources should be allocated to the safe town and Pepper Mill, as the situation is less severer.
However, as the Always Safe nuclear facility is located at the safe town, specialists should be sent there immediately to examine possible nuclear leakage -- This could cause potentially more damage.
The Wilson Forest lacks data points as there are fewer citizens living in that area. Power and Road need to be fixed, but with lower priority.

Task 2

Use visual analytics to show uncertainty in the data. Compare the reliability of neighborhood reports. Which neighborhoods are providing reliable reports? Provide a rationale for your response. Limit your response to 1000 words and 10 images.

Visualization #1	General Overview of Uncertainty
Visualization
Insight	By computing the variance for shake intensity reported by each location, it is observed that the variance can be as high as 18.00. This shows the uncertainty present in the data, as in every minute, the data reported by citizens can vary by a large scale. It is also observed that with a higher volume of reports, the variance increases.

Visualization #2	Neighbourhoods with Reliable Reports
Visualization
Insight	After looking into the variance line chart for all locations, three locations are found with considerable amount of data, and relatively low variance. The locations are Palace Hills (Location 1), Southwest (Location 5) and Scenic Vista (Location 8).

Task 3

How do conditions change over time? How does uncertainty in change over time? Describe the key changes you see. Limit your response to 500 words and 8 images.

Visualization #1	Condition Change Over Time
Visualization
Insight	From the visualization, it is observed that there is a small pre-quake on 6th April, which hit the safe town the hardest. There is a stronger shock the next day. On 8th April, the major shock happens and all locations can feel the earthquake. The conditions get better for the next three days, with an abnormal rise for the old town on 10th April. This indicates a possible aftershock for the old town on 10th April.

Visualization #2	Uncertainty Change Over Time
Visualization
Insight	The distribution for reported shake intensity for major affected locations are compared. From the visualization, it is observed that the uncertainty is the highest during and after the major shock, with a large distribution for reported shake intensity.

Comments

Please leave some comments for possible improvements!