RELEASE NOTES
DisasterAWARE® v 9.0.20 | Release Date: 29 April 2025
Layers | Background layers: A new selection of background maps and imagery is now available, offering improved visuals and enhancing the overall display of data.
Layers | Labels: Administrators can now configure several layers to display labels on top of map elements, along with other visual enhancements that improve data clarity and display.
Map Panel | Coordinates tab: The Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) option has been redesigned and improved.
Map Viewer | Hazard cluster: Hazard clusters have been visually updated with the removal of central red lines, offering a cleaner display.
Map Viewer | Mapping engine: The DisasterAWARE mapping engine has been upgraded from Google Maps API to WebGL for improved map visualization and performance.
Media | Hotspots: Hotspot appearance has been updated with a more precision visualization of media report concentrations.
Print | Status bar: A new status bar has been added to indicate the progress of submitted print jobs.
Smart Alert | Mobile Push Notifications (BETA Feature): Get hazard alerts on the go by connecting your DisasterAWARE Pro (or other custom version) account to PDC’s free Disaster Alert app. Try out our new Mobile Push Notification feature (currently in BETA) and follow this quick interactive tutorial to get started: https://www.pdc.org/mobile-alerts/
Bug Fixes
Drawing | Display: Drawings now remain visible while zooming.
Deprecated
Map Panel | Coordinates tab: The Map Ruler feature, previously accessible from the Coordinates tab, has been removed.
Drawing | Annotations: The border option for Annotations has been removed.
Drawings | Image: The border option for imported images has been removed.
Drawings | Preserve aspect ratio: The “Preserve Aspect Ratio” option for images has been removed. Images now maintain their aspect ratio by default.
Known Issues
Listed below are known issues and available workarounds. Thanks for your patience while we address these items.
Asset Protection | Organization asset class: Assets added to an organization are not displayed in the current session in which they ‘ve been added. The assets will display in subsequent sessions. Likewise, assets deleted from an organization are not immediately removed from the user interface during the current session. Assets will appear removed in subsequent sessions. In all cases, a browser refresh will resolve the view issue.
Basemap style change: On app load, the default basemap style may be applied and then quickly updated.
Browser Ad Blockers: Supplemental information products such as situation reports, map graphics, and other analytical products associated with a hazard cannot be opened when an ad or pop-up blocker is running in the browser. Turn off or pause the ad blocker to open and view PDF products.
Drawing | Navigation with eraser activated: Navigation is disabled when the eraser tool is activated. To resume map navigation, pan or zoom or disable the eraser tool and try again.
Drawing | Area: Area calculations for drawing figures may not be accurate. Avoid this feature until resolved.
Polygon | Polygon: Closing a polygon figure with a double click will result in zooming in on the map. Hold your mouse clicker down for 5 seconds to close the polygon and complete the drawing.
Drawing | Tools disabled: If drawings cannot be added to the map or problems arise with the drawing tools, the zoom extent may be too high. Zoom out a bit and then try again.
Disaster Alert | Domain Change Logout: When a user configures Disaster Alert to work with an external domain, once the user logs out of the configured domain they will also be logged out of their session in Disaster Alert.
User Preferences | Language change: When changing languages in DisasterAWARE, it may take a moment for the app to fully translate all features to the selected language.
Layers | Imported layers: If attempting to import a Map Service already configured in DisasterAWARE, the name of the imported layers may not appear according to the import configuration but rather the existing configuration for the Map Service.
Layers | Freezing: If the Recent Layers folder is open and all the folder layers are enabled, DisasterAWARE may not operate as expected and users may not be able to navigate the Table of Contents from the Layers panel. One workaround is to make sure the “Recent Layers” folder is closed while navigating the Table of Contents and inspecting data layers.
Organizations | Public bookmark layers: If a layer assigned to an organization is publicly available, it will be visible to any user that the bookmark is shared with. If the layer is protected with source authorization then the layer will not load for other users outside of the Organization.
Print Service | Map Tips: The Print feature does not support the printing of Map Tips at this time.
Print Service | Paper size: A0 and A1 paper sizes (poster sizes) are not currently available with the Print feature.
Print Service | Portrait: If the print preview is changed from Landscape to Portrait and back to Landscape, the preview will not return to full canvas size. Drag the corner of the preview to the desired zoom.
RVA Data: Data is not rounding or displaying with the percent sign (%) as expected. This is impacting newer data added to the system beginning in 2022.
RVA Data | No Data: The legend in DisasterAWARE may be missing the ‘No Data’ legend entry. This data category is drawn as a grey color in the map viewer. The layer draws as expected and the rest of the information is available in the legend (except the ‘No Data’ entry).
Smart Alert | Email Verification: When changing the email address configured for Smart Alerts in the User preferences panel, users must verify the new email address through the confirmation link sent to their email. If not verified, Smart Alerts will continue to be sent to the old email address.
Smart Alert Notifications | Assets: Users who have their alert area set to Global, yet also have active Asset Providers, may only receive notifications for hazards that intersect their actively tracked assets. To receive Global notifications, users must delete the Asset Providers and stop tracking assets.
Smart Alert Notifications | Legend: When reviewing the legend for Smart Alert Notifications while the Organization inspector is open, there will be two Notification Areas shown in the legend.
Virtual layers | Selection bar: If users have themes enabled (PDC, Light, or Dark), the Virtual Layer bar at the bottom of the map viewer may not be easily used to determine the active selection. Users may pause the animation and manually choose a selection to determine which selection is actively displaying in the map viewer.
Web Feature Service (WFS) | Feature count: WFS feature counts are limited to 100 due to bandwidth limitations.
Web Feature Service (WFS) | Layer style: WFS does not support custom styles. Therefore, layers are drawn with default icons.
Web Map Service (WMS) | Asynchronous requests: When a user selects a location, a request is made in parallel to each enabled WMS layer to see if there is a feature at that location. The first layer to respond to the request is the first layer displayed. Serial requests such as this, where the order is defined by the visual order of the layers, may increase response times unnecessarily.
Web Map Service (WMS) | Coordinates: WMS 1.3 specification flips coordinates in a North and then East orientation (minY, minX, maxY, maxX), which differs from a standard orientation (minX, minY, maxX, maxY). DisasterAWARE flips the coordinates for WMS 1.3 and projection 4326 to accommodate this behavior.
Web Map Service (WMS) | Cursor hover: The cursor will not change from the hand symbol to the pointer symbol when WMS features are hovered over in DisasterAWARE. Map tips will also not display on feature hover.
Web Map Service (WMS) | Undeclared virtual layers: Imported layers may appear as independent layers in the Table of Contents (ToC) as well as a child of a parent. Layer inspection may differ depending on the layer(s) enabled when the inspection event occurs.
Web Map Service (WMS) | Symbology: Icons displayed in Map Tips and the Feature Inspector may not match the symbol displayed on the map.
Web Map Service (WMS) | Feature list: The Feature List for WMS services will only show features that the user discovered by clicking on the map. The feature list may not show all features that are on the map as other feature layers do.
Well Known Text (WKT): WKT files that fall over the antemeridian will be inverted.
Zoom To Tool: Users who click the map quickly multiple times with the Zoom To tool enabled (magnifying tool option from the right-side navigation menu), may experience undesired behavior. The map will not tile appropriately at the new zoom level. When the user clicks Home from the right-side navigation tools, the hazard clusters will appear expanded.