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2. Area is the most populated location within the U.S.portion of the Red River of the North Basin.3. Area has a long history of moderate to severeflooding; and4. The tool will be supported within the framework ofthe RRBDIN.Although the FMMA was selected, the tool is generaland transferable to other locations. This project hasresulted in the deployment of a working example of thetool using cutting-edge technology. A secondary benefitof the tool is understanding and demonstrating theimportance of and need for high-resolution topographicdata for hydrologic forecasting.Online productsThe following products are available through theRRBFFDT:User Interface – The RRBFFDT user interface isincorporated into the RRBDIN as a “tool.” The interfaceis an interactive map giving users the ability to navigate,turn on/off layers and query certain data layers. Themap interface includes a limited number of geo-spatiallayers including aerial imagery, parcel boundaries, cityboundaries, streets and roads, and hydrographic features.The application also allows users to search and zoom toan address from the address lookup tool.Map Products, Graphics and Animation – Variousmap products are available for display through the userinterface for the flood forecast period. The products areavailable for a 7-day period (“into the future”) basedupon the NWS forecast. Products include:• Flood Inundation Map – A map which shows theinundation area for a given date and time, based uponthe FLDWAV conditional forecast (FEMA, 2007). Themap uses colors / patterns to indicate: 1) areas protectedfrom flooding by a levee; 2) areas that flood as a result ofoverflow from the river; and 3) areas that flood becausewater ponds, rather than originates from the river.• Flood Inundation Animation Graphic – Animationshowing the flood inundation in 6 hour increments for aseven day forecast, based upon the FLDWAV conditionalforecast. The animation is controlled by the user with play,stop and rewind.• Maximum Flood Inundation Area Map – Map showingthe inundation area corresponding to the maximumelevation during the conditional forecast at each locationwithin the FFMA, based upon the FLDWAV conditionalforecast. This map is presented as a GeographicInformation System (GIS) layer which can be turned onand off by the user through the user interface.• Flood Peak Occurrence Map – Map showing themaximum elevations and the times of occurrence duringthe conditional forecast at specific locations (i.e., rivermiles). This map is presented as a GIS layer which can beturned on and off by the user through the user interface.• Critical Facilities Risk Map – Map portraying the riskof flooding critical facilities, including facilities associatedwith the flood response effort, public infrastructure andprivate infrastructure. Low, moderate and high risk levelsare represented using green, yellow and red color codingrespectively, of the facilities. This map is presented asa GIS layer which can be turned on and off by the userthrough the user interface.• Potential Road Flooding Map – Roads with thepotential to become inundate and flooded is inferredusing the Maximum Flood Inundation Area Map and thetransportation GIS layer. This requires the user to turn onthese layers using the map user interface.• Red River at Fargo Gage Static Maps – Thesemaps show the approximate area inundated based onpredetermined water levels at the U.S. Geological gagein Fargo (USGS, 2007) extrapolated upstream anddownstream. Stages, [elevations] for these maps arebased on the FEMA Flood Insurance Study (FIS) steadystate model analysis and does not incorporate anticipatedprecipitation, climate or measured snow conditions(FEMA 2000B). This product is fundamentally differentfrom those products based upon the NWS FLDWAVmodel, which is an actual forecast based on anticipatedprecipitation, climate, measured snow conditions, andunsteady hydraulic routing.• Sandbag Tool – The sandbag tool was developed asa proof of concept tool to demonstrate how organizationscould add tools to help them emergency management.The sandbag tool is meant as a proof on concept. Thesandbag tool is a selectable button on the map userinterface which allows the user to trace a line segment andobtain an estimate of the number of sandbags requiredfor protection (based on the need of 1 bag per linear footper foot of elevation with a maximum 5-foot height).• Communication Tools – Two tools are available toenhance communication with the user groups during aflood event.1. Flood Forecast E-mail Notification – Automatede-mail notification that the NWS is now forecasting andproducts are available through the RRBFFDT and atadditional NWS URLs.2. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) WeatherInformation – Live RSS stream of weather and othercritical emergency information presented as text on theFFDT home page.• Downloadable GIS Data – Users have the ability todownload two types of GIS products for use on the localclient. Layers include:1. Flood Inundation Time Series – Contains a GISshapefile for each 6 hour increment in the seven dayconditional forecast.2. Maximum Flood Inundation Area Map – Containsa GIS shapefile for the maximum flood inundation area inthe conditional forecast.3. Flood Peak Occurrence Map – Contains a shapefilefor the locations of the flood peak occurrences and a textfile to join to the shapefile to obtain the arrival time of thepeak occurrence at each location.4. Depth Grid for Maximum Flood Inundation AreaMap – Contains an ESRI GRID for the maximum floodinundation area in the conditional forecast.5. Links – A set of link to the NWS “standard” floodforecast products.The RRBFFDT is intended to provide near real-timeflood forecast information to two user groups; i.e., the“general public” and the “public decision-maker.” TheGeneral Public user group consists of residents of andvisitors to the FMMA, whose daily activities are potentiallyaffected during a flood event. The information for publicdecision-makers is available only through a passwordprotected screen or domain name access. The PublicDecision-Maker user group consists of City administrativeand technical staff, Emergency Managers and EmergencyResponse personnel. Individuals comprising the Public— 259 —