"I'm very positive about the future of GIS. It's the right technology at the right time. When I think of all the major problems that we face throughout the world today—overpopulation, food shortages, reduced agricultural production, adverse climate change, poverty—these are all quintessentially geographic problems. These problems are all concerned with the human relationship to the land, and this is where GIS can make its biggest contribution. GIS is the technology of our times and is uniquely suited to assist in solving the problems that we face."

-Dr. Roger F. Tomilson, Father of GIS

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GIS in Pictures

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Twitter feeds forecast real time water, weather and flood for Texas

The USGS Texas Water Dashboard developed by USGS is a online service that provides critical real time water information, weather and flood for Texas at your fingertips on a desktop, smartphone or other mobile device. The USGS uses Twitter to craete twitter feeds and to map the information on weather and water.


With the help of Twitter, USGS TX FloodWatch (@USGS_TexasFlood) and USGS TX RainWatch (@USGS_TexasRain) were developed to distribute water level and precipitation data: . The FloodWatch feed automatically sends out tweets anytime one of about 300 selected USGS streamgages throughout the state rises above the NWS-defined flood level, and delivers information within minutes. The RainWatch feed tweets when rainfall exceeds a rate of 0.4 inches per hour.

“The Texas Water Dashboard provides a user-friendly ‘one-stop’ picture that is of extreme use to water resource managers, with the simplicity to be used by the general public,” said Mark Null, National Weather Service Hydrologist-In-Charge, West Gulf Coast River Forecast Center.

Map of the day

COVID-19 Population Vulnerability Dashboard