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Online Maps with OpenLayers
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Interest Topics : Ushahidi Crisis Map
In 2008, a team of Kenyan programmers surprised the world with a crisis response map, powered by volunteers' reports over the web and by mobile phones. Their project's name, Ushahidi, means "testimony" in Swahili, and its open source system has made an impact worldwide. It has been recognized by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, technology journalists, and activists alike.
Last year, Ushahidi proved its mettle by responding to the Haiti eartthquake and much smaller crises, such as the Washington DC "Snowpocalypse". This year, it's already taken off in Australia's flooding ( http://queenslandfloods.crowdmap.com ) and the earthquake in New Zealand ( http://eq.org.nz )
Getting Started
You can visit any Ushahidi map online, or quickly create your own on Crowdmap.com
Ushahidi as Open Source
The Ushahidi Web project is free, open source, and downloadable from https://github.com/ushahidi/Ushahidi_Web . It works with open source web server Apache, open source database MySQL, and the open language PHP, which took me a couple of days to set up on a Windows laptop.
Making the software open source means that activists trust it (known security and privacy) and experienced web developers will be familiar with the tools and code necessary for a custom map. Other developers write their own plugins to add to the Ushahidi system.
Ushahidi and OpenLayers
Ushahidi uses OpenLayers as their mapping tool. To view source code of a map, press Ctrl+U ( or in Internet Explorer, Page > View Source ).
If you view the source code of queenslandfloods.crowdmap.com , you'll see familiar code such as
map = new OpenLayers.Map('map', options);
Most projects use a Google Maps layer, because it has more detail and up-to-date satellite images for most areas.
In Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the best maps are on the community-built OpenStreetMap. You can see an OpenLayers + OpenStreetMap on Ushahidi at this website: http://www.noula.ht/index.aspx
What can I do to Ushahidi, now that I know OpenLayers?
Do you know someone who uses Ushahidi ? Someone who *could* be using it? Your project could come from helping someone sign up on Crowdmap.com
You can also create a script to work with anyone's Ushahidi map. The URL / location bar on your web browser can be used to communicate with the web page's JavaScript. For example, entering the code javascript:document.body.backgroundColor='green';void(0); onto most webpages will turn the page green. You could move the map by going to the site and entering the script into the URL bar (or setting it as a bookmark):
I used the clickable icons code to make this script: http://mapmeld.appspot.com/bookmarklet-time.js The result looks like this: http://i.imgur.com/Ofgcd.png Once it's working, you can set it up into a PHP plugin for permanent installation on a site.
Disclaimer: Be careful about entering javascript: links into your web browser. Entering JavaScript into Facebook, for example, could direct your web browser to send personal information to another website.
Yesterday a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, and within minutes mappers were responding. Shu Higashi of OpenStreetMap Japan created an Ushahidi site which will be added to Google's map within hours: http://osmemo.wizu.jp/
The US National Geospatial Intelligence Agency released this PDF atlas of Sendai, printed for responders from Fairfax County, Virginia, using OpenStreetMap data:
http://www.floodmaps.net/eftp/files/415884399_USAR_Sendai_1k_Atlas.pdf
DigitalGlobe has taken new satellite photos and released them to 10-20 members of OpenStreetMap a few hours ago. The Japanese space agency is expected to release information today, too.
Thanks, Nick. Here's another take on the tech sector's growing role in disaster response:
http://www.nten.org/blog/2011/03/11/nptech-response-japan?utm_source=fee...
Microsoft Bing has updated their maps along the coast in Sendai and Fukushima, including areas which were low-res maps before. You can go to OpenStreetMap.org to trace roads.
From the e-mail list, I've gotten a few pieces of advice so far:
* Search OpenStreetMap for Sendai Airport to find the right location.
* Click on advanced, and add the tag tsunami or tsunami:damage in the left column to indicate that your information is post-disaster.
* People are working on standards for things like blocked roads, but go ahead and tag places now, in a way that makes sense to you and to readers.