Dr. Wilson was recently interviewed by WLIO television in Lima about the role Geographic Information Systems (GIS)can play in predicting the path of hurricanes. Wilson told the interviewer that GIS began as a tool for meteorologists, although the news report incorrectly gave crime mapping as the origins, and has replaced hand drawn maps as the tool of choice for tracking storms. The report prominently mentioned that ONU students were receiving real-life experience in using GIS tools to track recent hurricanes such as Isaac.
In addition to storm tracking, GIS is a useful, if not crucial, tool in a wide variety of disciplines including criminal justice, marketing, law, engineering and a wide variety of others. Both Dr. Wilson and Dr. Smith offer these courses each semester.
To see Wilson's interview, click here, and the blurb that accompanied the video read as follows: ADA, OHIO -
Students at Ohio Northern University got a real-life example of how to track storms thanks to Hurricane Isaac. Students use the same geographicalinformation systems (GIS) that meteorologists use to track the storm's path.
The GIS courses at ONU provide students with basic and advanced skill sets in geographical data analysis. Traditionally, GIS was strictly used in criminal analysis and mapping social trends, but recently, GIS has made leaps and bounds in meteorology.
The years of using hand-drawn maps to predict the course of storms has been replaced by geographical information systems. Thanks to technology, storms can be tracked more accurately and precautions can be made.
For an example of GIS in the works, visit the National Hurricane Center online as they track Tropical Storm Leslie and Hurricane Kirk.
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