Researchers at the San Diego State University’s Immersive Visualization Center have been working with the US Department of Defense and the US Navy to analyze data from various high-altitude imaging systems (planes, satellites, etc) to create interactive tools for visualization of the data.  Ofter many years of arguing over classifications and availability, the technology is finally available for use and opening up whole new avenues of situational awareness for emergency responders, military commanders, and the public in general.

“If you stretched the time scale out for weeks at a time, months at a time, and then even years at a time,” Hatoum said, “you could really see the pattern — how they knew what routes we were taking — the fact that they would concentrate on different sectors based on what was going on that week.”

via Viz Lab Transforms How Responders Navigate Disasters.