PDC Updates | Jul 27, 2010
PDC Active Hazards Widget Demo

Flex Developers: Enhance your Disaster Management Apps with PDC Real-time Hazards

With the release of the “PDC Active Hazards Widget,” the Pacific Disaster Center has yet again expanded the channels through which its timely and effective geospatial information resources can be accessed. The Active Hazards Widget allows software application developers to easily “plug-in” PDC information resources into their web-based disaster management applications. It is specifically designed for use within ESRI’s Flex API environment.

The Active Hazards Widget was published by PDC on July 9, during the ESRI International User Conference (becoming visible to the public on July 12), and two weeks later, it had been downloaded by more than 100 developers.

With PDC’s Active Hazards Widget, developers can simply and easily make a rich set of data available to their user communities, all of it presented visually for instant understanding. The Active Hazards Widget delivers near-real time information on earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, wildfires and other hazard events worldwide.

“It is a first of a kind offering by PDC—or any other organization—a ‘PDC in the box’ plug-in for any organization deploying ESRI FLEX API solutions to their clients,” said PDC Chief Information Officer Chris Chiesa. “We’ve made it easy to deliver this life-saving information to tens of thousands of people around the globe. We believe this is a tremendous opportunity for web developers to leverage the large investments made by PDC over the years to automate the receipt and processing of data streams from authoritative sources such as the U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), National Weather Service (NWS), Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters and others.”

Additional information—including links to download the Active Hazards Widget and instructions for installing it in your development environment—are available on PDC's website.

ESRI is the leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) solutions, and PDC is a global leader in information and communications technology solutions for disaster management.

  • To Download the PDC Active Hazards Widget, go to the Widget's page on the ArcGIS Resource Center Code Gallery.
  • If you are not familiar with PDC Active Hazards, explore the Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas.
  • Have an iPad or iPhone? Download PDC’s free Disaster Alert app at iTunes or AppShopper.
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