{"id":6513,"date":"2020-08-25T18:49:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T23:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arch.tamu.edu.staging2.juiceboxint.com\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T15:52:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T20:52:22","slug":"crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/","title":{"rendered":"First responders tout AI-based\nflood app created in part by COSC prof"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Hurricane Laura<\/a>\u2019s menacing march to the Texas and Louisiana coasts continues, first responders and Gulf Coast residents are touting the benefits of a new app<\/a> developed by Amir Behzadan, Texas A&M associate professor of construction science<\/a>, and collaborators that will help provide precise, timely information about flood levels.<\/p>\n

The concept of the app, BluPix<\/a>, is simple: anyone can use the free app to upload a photo of floodwaters that includes a stop sign and pole. The uploaded image, and a photo of the same location taken before the flood, are then pinned to the app\u2019s built-in map using the photos\u2019 metadata.<\/p>\n

Because stop signs in the U.S. are all the same height and width, a computer algorithm can \u201cturn them into low-tech flood sensors,\u201d Behzadan told KHOU-TV<\/a>. First responders and citizens can use the app to quickly determine the height of flood waters and use its built-in map to determine flood risk in their area. The app processes the crowdsourced photos with an artificial intelligence algorithm to calculate floodwater depth.<\/p>\n

Matthew Marchetti, co-founder of Crowd Source Rescue<\/a>, one of the nonprofit organizations collaborating with the Texas A&M app development team, said his group will be able to use the app’s pictures in real time to dispatch volunteers the next time flooding hits Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day it helps save more lives, if we can get first responders better and faster information,\u201d Marchetti told KHOU-TV.<\/p>\n

Precise information about flooding can be hard to come by, said Marchetti.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ask five different people in the same apartment complex, how high did it flood? You will get five different answers,” he said. \u201cIs the floodwater two feet, is it six feet? There\u2019s a big difference between those two numbers, because it\u2019s the difference between a truck and a boat,” said Marchetti.<\/p>\n

The crowdsourced photos could also help reduce the time it takes to update floodplain maps, said Behzadan, who is developing the app in a funded research project with Texas A&M faculty colleagues.<\/p>\n

\"Amir
Amir Behzadan, associate professor of construction science, talks about the app in a KHOU-TV interview.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cFEMA flood maps are widely used to determine flood risk, vulnerability, and insurance cost,\u201d said Behzadan. \u201cbut the process of creating and updating these maps is very complex. 75% of these maps are older than five years, leaving many U.S. communities with no or outdated flood maps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the app is new, it already has photos of flood waters and stop signs from many parts of the country and even a few locations in Canada, demonstrating the power of crowdsourcing.<\/p>\n

Behzadan\u2019s collaborators include Michelle Meyer, director of the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center<\/a>, and Courtney Thompson and Zhe Zhang, Texas A&M assistant professors of geography.<\/p>\n

The project is funded by Texas Sea Grant Program<\/a> under an award from the U.S. Department of Commerce\u2019s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact rnira@arch.tamu.edu<\/a> or doswald@tamu.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Hurricane Laura\u2019s march to the Gulf Coast continues, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":6514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[61,87,88,63],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-construction-science","category-landscape-architecture-urban-planning","category-research-innovation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFirst responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As Hurricane Laura approaches, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Hurricane Laura approaches, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Texas A&M University College of Architecture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-25T23:49:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-08-17T20:52:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"898\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Richard Nira\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Richard Nira\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/\",\"name\":\"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-25T23:49:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-08-17T20:52:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/750ec5ceee2157028ea34f8dbc33b7a7\"},\"description\":\"As Hurricane Laura approaches, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":898,\"caption\":\"Blupix stop sign 1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/\",\"name\":\"Texas A&M University College of Architecture\",\"description\":\"\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/750ec5ceee2157028ea34f8dbc33b7a7\",\"name\":\"Richard Nira\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/author\/rnira\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof","description":"As Hurricane Laura approaches, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof","og_description":"As Hurricane Laura approaches, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/","og_site_name":"Texas A&M University College of Architecture","article_published_time":"2020-08-25T23:49:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-08-17T20:52:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":898,"url":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Richard Nira","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Richard Nira","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/","url":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/","name":"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-25T23:49:33+00:00","dateModified":"2023-08-17T20:52:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/750ec5ceee2157028ea34f8dbc33b7a7"},"description":"As Hurricane Laura approaches, first responders tout an app created in part by COSC prof Amir Behzadan that provides flooding facts.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/blupix-stop-sign-1.jpg","width":2000,"height":898,"caption":"Blupix stop sign 1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/25\/crowdsourced-flood-level-app-developedby-cosci-researcher-colleagues\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"First responders tout AI-based flood app created in part by COSC prof"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/","name":"Texas A&M University College of Architecture","description":"","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/750ec5ceee2157028ea34f8dbc33b7a7","name":"Richard Nira","url":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/news\/author\/rnira\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6513"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15100,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6513\/revisions\/15100"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arch.tamu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}