CrisisCommons is a global network of volunteers who use creative problem solving and open technologies to help people and communities in times and places of crisis. Volunteers include coders, programmers, geospatial and visualization implementors, as well as collaborators who can lead teams, manage projects, search the internet, translate languages, apply intuitive and universal access interfaces.

In collaboration with CrisisCommons, Horizon Mapping built a mobile browser application which utilized the Haiti Earthquake crowdsource map built with Ushahidi. The app was designed to provide report search capabilities to workers in the field using mobile devices in low-bandwidth situations.

The Haiti map and API have since been closed due to privacy concerns, but a reconfigured application now connects to simulated tsunami reports provided by Quicknets. The Crisis Reports page displays appropriately in desktop browsers, smartphone browsers and simple mobile web browsers.

The Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) seeks to build a community of adults and organizations that are dedicated to reaching youth living in poverty and to building a sophisticated, long-term support system that leads them to careers. T/MC uses GIS computer technology to guide volunteers, donors and business partners to tutor/mentor locations around Chicago.

Horizon Mapping works with T/MC in support of mapping initiatives that include the following:

1000 Friends' transportation vision for Wisconsin is an affordable, reliable, and balanced transportation system that will benefit the economic health of communities, preserve and promote environmental quality and social equity, as well as meet the mobility of all Wisconsin’s residents.

In 2006, 1000 Friends contacted Horizon Mapping and discussed the possibility of creating a map that would combine the different public transportation services available in Wisconsin. This information existed in many different places on the web, but nowhere was it centralized in a single source. Putting together a map of routes and services would allow convenient access to these resources on line or distributed as hardcopy. Soon, people who are interested in, or restricted to public, non-automobile transportation will be able to use this publication to determine the best modes and routes to take to get where they are going.

Feet First is an advocacy organization promoting walkable communities. They envision people walking every day for their health, transportation, environment, community and pleasure. Through their work creating Neighborhood Foot Maps they strengthen the pedestrian voice throughout Washington State. Feet First also fostered the creation of a Seattle Green Map (part of the Green Map System).

Horizon Mapping created a prototype interactive and public participatory, online green map for Seattle based on the Google Maps API.

South Africa has among the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, thanks in no small part to the Cape Floral Kingdom. Wildcliff is a mountain wilderness reserve in the Langeberg mountain range of South Africa's Western Cape. Ian and Jennifer Giddy purchased the property in 2007 on behalf of the Wild Cape Nature Trust. It will be maintained as a nature reserve in perpetuity for purposes of conservation and research.

In 2007, Horizon Mapping began building a preliminary GIS for the preserve, based on the best data already available. This ranged from 1:500,000 scale data from the SA Agriculture Geo-Referenced Information System to topographic data at 1:50,000 scale from the SA Chief Directorate. A number of maps were produced that were assembled into an online map gallery..

Krisoker Saar (Farmers' Voice) is a tiny Farmers' Research Institute in Bangladesh that has evolved from the local community itself. One of their current initiatives involves inventorying the biodiverstiy of the internationally known Sundarban Mangrove Forest in the aftermath of the category 4 Cyclone Sidr in November, 2007.

In support of this effort, Horizon Mapping built a web presence for the organization that includes a dynamic map gallery. The maps tell the story of the disaster, the environment and the country, within which Farmer's Voice works to overcome many obstacles.

Volunteers for Outdoor Arizona encourages outdoor volunteering through projects that build & maintain trails; restore riparian habitat; protect threatened native species; remove noxious weeds, protect natural preserves...and more. Hands-on work to restore and protect native habitat enhances the integrity of local ecosystems, which can contribute to everything from cleaner water to greater opportunities for people to experience the joy of nature.

In support of this effort, Horizon Mapping built a project locator map for the organization based on the Google Maps API. The map allows volunteers to find projects and view descriptions and photos of them by clicking on project markers.

In order to save what is left of the world’s forests we need to find viable economic alternatives to unrestrained timber harvest. In 2003, Horizon Mapping worked with the Fundación Rescate del Bosque Tropical (FURARE) on a project in Ecuador that was designed to turn the destruction around.

By mimicking the natural forest plant communities, the group hoped to create a sustainable and harvestable ecosystem. They realized that to manage this agro-forestry system they would need to track the inventory of species being cultivated, the nurseries where they were planted, and the plots to which they would be transplanted. They identified Microsoft Access as the development environment and posted the database implementation project on the Idealist.Org volunteer site. Horizon Mapping provided remote development support for the database and application.

Population surveys are important indicators of our progress in regards to resolving many social issues. Measures of poverty levels are especially useful in understanding the effects of different policies, since the poorest citizens are more likely to suffer if inequalities exist.

The US Census has recognized this in recent surveys, putting emphasis on providing analyses of population data based on rigorous definitions of poverty. The most current survey in 2000 has resulted in several products along these lines, which have been released incrementally as compilation tasks are completed.

Census 2000 - Poverty Status in 1999
Sample Demographic Profile	May 7, 2002 - June 4, 2002
Congressional District Sample Demographic Profile	May 7, 2002 - June 4, 2002
Summary File 3 (SF 3) Population Specifications Technical Specifications	August 6, 2002 - September 25, 2002
Summary File 4 (SF 4) Population Specifications Technical Specifications	April 29, 2003 - July 30, 2003
Sample Quick Tables	August 6, 2002 - July 30, 2003
Sample Geographic Comparison Tables	August 6, 2002 - July 30, 2003
Summary Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics (PHC-2)	March 13, 2003 - July 24, 2003
Congressional District Data Summary File	March 17, 2003
Characteristics of American Indians and Alaska Natives by Tribe and Language	December 31, 2003
Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) Files	For 1-percent sample: April 23, 2003 - June 4, 2003 For 5-percent sample: August 6, 2003 - September 24, 2003

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SWIS

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been collecting data about the state's waterways for many years, usually including a locational reference. Up until recently, however, they have not been able to easily associate these measurements geographically with the rivers and streams and with each other. GIS tools provide methods to treat rivers as network systems and to place sampling sites as events along the collection of river reaches. Network analysis will eventually be able to discover relationships between geography and resources, which will greatly facilitate environmental management.

BCPL

Managing today's public forests must meet many expectations, from production, preservation, recreation and regulation. The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands realized many years ago that in order to perform this mandate efficiently and effectively, it would need to implement all the tools available. This included information technology and in particular GIS.

• Relief Maps on the Web

• Cabrini Connections

• Baltic Interactive Environmental Information

• Portland Oregon Police CrimeMapper

• Newsletters/Papers/Presentations

  • Spatial Data Infrastructure - Africa Newsletter

  • Nasa Facts - Global Warming

  • Sustainable Agriculure in Thailand