Environmental Research Systems Institute, Inc. (Esri) is sponsoring an app-development contest with the theme of “using technology to create map tools that help communities see, understand, and prepare for climate risks.” First prize in the contest is $10,000 or the equivalent in Esri software products.
According to the contest announcement, “apps will be judged on their creative and effective use of data, Esri apps, maps, services, and APIs.” While the contest is clearly focused on the use of Esri software, Unidata community members will recognize the usefulness of Unidata data streams and access technologies in incorporating weather and climate data into a system that helps decisionmakers grapple with environmental change.
Unidata has aided Esri in its efforts to incorporate access to georeferenced netCDF data into its software products since 2004, and Esri's ArcGIS product has supported use of netCDF files that follow the Climate and Forecast metadata conventions since version 9.2. The open source Esri Geoportal Server interoperates with Unidata's THREDDS Data Server.
The competition officially opened on March 9, 2014, and closes on June 2, 2014. Winners will be unveiled at the Esri International User Conference in July 2014. For additional information, see the Esri Climate Resilience App Challenge 2014 web site.
