Pacific Disaster Center Issues
1) Syracuse will lead the proposal with participation from Boston,
Caltech, Colorado, Cornell, Los Alamos and SCEC. The proposal will
involve TangoInteractive as an overall framework with support for
multiple hazards. As described in
http://www.npac.syr.edu/users/gcf/iteatango/iteatangopaper.html
TangoInteractive is designed to supply a collaborative framework linking
decision-makers and responders in the field. It offers all the basic
real-time collaboration tools as well as an API to add specialized
capabilities such as planning tools, simulations, database access and
Geographical Information systems (GIS). The latter can be then shared in
real-time to support distributed hazard consequence management and
planning. We suggested an initial teaming with tsunami oriented project
at Seattle and we need to see if deliverables explicitly include
operational integration of TangoInteractive with this or other hazards.
Note that original command and control version of TangoInteractive did
include a very preliminary weather simulation that could be
simultaneously viewed by participants and superimposed on the shared GIS.
This weather simulation was for lake effect snow in Central New York but
original code (produced by group from Oklahoma State) was for tornados.

2) Boston and Colorado will participate in development of simulation
modules of the GEM proposal type. Cornell (Turcotte) will contribute
estimation modules, which can be used in planning phases for earthquake
and other hazards (flooding?). 

3) Cornell (a colleague of Turcotte) has a powerful GIS, which embodies
existing relevant hazard information and this should be explored.
TangoInteractive's current GIS capability includes:
a) A 2d Java mapper where one has whiteboard capabilities with a 2D map
backdrop. This supports addition of icons where these are designed to
indicate "events" to which situation reports can be attached with data
input from a web form, stored in a common backend database and accessible
by any participant.
b) A linked 2D and 3D system where we have not deployed this broadly as
needs substantial data and an open Inventor viewer that is only freely
available on SGI workstations.
In neither case, do we have a suitable customization to the relevant
hazards and so collaboration with Cornell seems attractive.

4) Note that this project naturally develops both a crisis management
(hazard consequence control) system and a more general collaboratory for
the associated community. In this regard, we can support three separate
functions
a) Consequence management
b) Planning
c) Training where TangoInteractive can support general scenarios, which
are played in a war game style. This capability was developed for
original command and control version of the system but was not continued
as the system changed its focus to support of distance education and
training.

5) SCEC was very interested in these ideas and they could help in two
ways perhaps. 
a) Supporting deployment of general earthquake collaboratory based on
these ideas
b) Supplying various estimation modules
To help these along, Fox suggested that he could visit SCEC and give a
presentation.

6) Los Alamos (through Andy White) is a natural partner as their DELPHI
project is aimed at supplying real-time simulations to help manage
consequences of hazards including forest fires (where they have
interesting results already) and earthquakes.

7) We discussed the requirement that any system work in scenarios (such
as Kobe earthquake) where there is a catastrophic failure of
communications infrastructure. Here we suggested supporting cellular
links through satellites.

8) Linkage to hazard consequence community in Southern California would
be enhanced through involvement of Heaton(?) who has just moved to
Caltech from USGS.