Dr. Torsten Hahmann Co-PI in developing The Urban Flooding Open Knowledge Network
NSF has awarded a multi-disciplinary research team involving the University of Cinncinati, North Carolina State University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, and the University of Maine a $1,000,000 grant to develop “The Urban Flooding Open Knowledge Network” to improve prediction, risk analysis and mitigation of flooding in urban areas. The open knowledge network will connect public data and knowledge about the natural environment, such as from weather forecasts or terrain and elevation maps, with information about the water, sewer and energy infrastructure that are often affected during severe weather events.
Torsten Hahmann , Associate Professor in Spatial Informatics and Computer Science at UMaine, is a co-PI of the research team. He will contribute his expertise in data semantics and artificial intelligence to intelligently connect and integrate data from partners and government agencies with different disciplinary backgrounds and different data standards.
The team has been selected as one of 21 funded projects in the “Open
Knowledge Networks” track of the NSF Convergence Accelerator Pilot
Program, out of initially 230 submissions. NSF describes the Convergence Accelerator as “a new capability within NSF to accelerate use-inspired, convergence research in areas of national importance that supports two of the Big Ideas and seeks to engage partnerships – notably public-private partnerships.”