In another recent R&D venture, our team of software development experts created a web application that leverages FEMA’s Flood Hazard Zones GIS data information to provide insight to its users. Users of the application may use this information to determine whether their property or a location of interest is at potential risk of being in a current or future flood zone.
This FEMA Flood Hazard Zone GIS data is provided by MapServices, which is available through FEMA’s GeoPlatform (https://www.geoplatform.gov) – an ArcGIS Online (AGOL) Portal (https://enterprise.arcgis.com/en/portal) that contains various FEMA-related data components. By leveraging this ArcGIS Online portal, our development team was able to create, integrate, and leverage mapping capabilities into a custom-developed application – responsive on both web and mobile platforms.
Some of FEMA’s MapServices layers that this application leverages include: flood hazard zones and labels, river mile markers, Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) boundaries/labels, Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) & Otherwise Protected Area (OPA) units, hydraulic and flood control structures, and Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) boundaries/case numbers. FEMA’s GIS data is available for download and can also be accessed through their self-hosted MapServices with an AGOL account. MapServices will allow for dynamic queries and API access. API access will allow for programmatically querying a JSON representation of the spatial data, i.e. integrating with other client-side components of the application.
In addition to visualizing Flood Hazard Zones data, this application also acts as a one stop shop for users to obtain information on the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), should their property of interest lie in a Hazard Zone. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is providing affordable insurance to property owners, renters and businesses and by encouraging communities to adopt and enforce floodplain management regulations.
On the technical side of things, this web application leverages various components of software, including the ArcGIS API for JavaScript (https://developers.arcgis.com/javascript) for seamless front-end integration with FEMA’s GeoPlatform and leveraging of MapServices and key Software Development Kits (SDKs) for custom and powerful client-side web-mapping capabilities.
The application also leverages the Esri World Geocoder (http://www.esri.com/data/find-data/worldgeocoder) – accessible through an AGOL account – and grant its users the ability to identify a property and/or location of interest to determine potential floodplain risk.
Find out if your property is at risk of being in a FEMA-defined flood plain today by visiting: http://apps.geomarvel.com/flood-zones
For more information on how your company can build custom web application tools like this one, please visit: https://www.geomarvel.com/our-services
