This was a test of the utility of Twitter during a couple of weather events. The test was performed by the Arkansas Geographic Information Office. The kml can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/bKzf5T

1. Apologies for the use of text in this slide show. This was slide deck is intended to provide the findings of a Tweet test performed by the Arkansas Geographic Information Office. 1

2. This was Just a Test Prepared by: Arkansas Geographic Information Office www.gis.arkansas.gov 2 All pictures shown; tweeted with #Arwx A KMZ can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/bKzf5T Still working on date/time format

3. #ARwx Tweet TestApril 23-26, 2010April 29 – May 3, 2010 Prepared by: Arkansas Geographic Information Office www.gis.arkansas.gov 3 All pictures shown; tweeted with #Arwx A KMZ can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/bKzf5T Still working on date/time format

4. There is a geographic component to Tweets 4 All tweets were not located properly during this test

5. There is a geographic component to Tweets 5 Location is a significant component

6. Purpose of Test Determine twitter use for an event Determine acceptance of a hashtag Determine acceptance of geoenabled tweets Figure out if this is useful http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lzk/?n=svr0410a.htm 6

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8. Results April 23-26, 2010 Safe Software Twitter Workbench worked properly Data was captured and stored in a database Data can be viewed in GoogleEarth Tweets 32 unique users 10 geotagged (lat/long) 77 profile was used to locate 9 could not be located 96 total number of tweets during this event 8

9. Results April 23-26, 2010 Safe Software Twitter Workbench worked properly Data was captured and stored in a database Data can be viewed in GoogleEarth Tweets 32 unique users 10 geotagged (lat/long) 77 profile was used to locate 9 could not be located 96 total number of tweets during this event Yeah!!! Nota ‘significant’ Event 9

10. Information Captured Date / Time Created Tweet ID Tweet Text Tweet User Tweet User Profile Image Location (lat-long / profile) Search Text = #arwx Geometry 10

11. Results April 30-May 3, 2010 Safe Software Twitter Workbench- Failed* A number of tweets were not captured Issues identified: Number of Twitter API calls per hour Configuration of scripts Each of these are being addressed for next test An export from Twapper allowed analysis Captured Tweets Georefrenced using profiles captured from failed test Manually inserted several based on profile description Exported to KML 11 *Failure of the workbench was due to implementation; not the Safe Software product

12. Results April 30-May 3, 2010 Tweets 219 unique users 19 geotagged (lat/long) 1,425 profile was used to locate 135 could not be located 1,579 total number of tweets during this event Users Most tweets by a single user 100 User retweeted the most 108 (@wxmandan – LR NWS) 12

13. Process Used to Generate KML Exported #ARwx from Twapper Performed table join based on userid to the data captured from the failed test Inserted location to a number of tweets from Twapper Removed duplicates Attempted to adjust date and time to CST Ran Safe Software workbench to generate a kml 13

14. General ObservationsApril 30 – May 3, 2010 14

15. General ObservationsApril 30 – May 3, 2010 15

16. General ObservationsApril 30 – May 3, 2010 16

17. General ObservationsApril 30 – May 3, 2010 17 Event was primarily southeast of this area. Twitter activity corresponds.

18. General ObservationsApril 30 – May 3, 2010 18 Tweets increased as event unfolded and decreased as threat subsided.

19. General ObservationsApril 30 – May 3, 2010 19 That’s just cool.

20. General Test Observations Determine twitter use for an event Twitter proved useful for communicating the events as they unfolded. Tweets provided on the ground information and pictures. Determine acceptance of a hashtag The hashtag was generally accepted, but took roughly 18 hours for uptake Determine acceptance of geoenabled tweets The majority of tweets were not geotagged. Several profiles did not allow for any location information to be identified. Figure out if this is useful No doubt twitter is useful for communicating events. The next step will be evaluating protocols needed for real-time analysis and bi-directional communication 20

21. The power of location Why test the use? 21

22. County Boundaries 22

23. Earthquake Intensity 23

24. Roads 24

25. Bridges 25

26. Bridges For Example: Crowd source damage assessments following an earthquake 26

27. Considerations Network Assumes network access Assumes Twitter (in this case) is available Education Enabling geotagging Acceptance Geotagging Ability to provide reports Mapability API works properly API provides useful information Usability Filtering the noise Can the appropriate protocols be put in place to make this a useful tool for hearing those that ‘call for help’ or submit ‘field reports’? The handling of date/time stamps 27

28. Summary The recent events have provided us with good information to use in our test. We will continue to analyze the information and determine how the power of the technology might be further used in future events. 28

29. 29 Learon.Dalby@arkansas.gov Twitter: @learondalby http://www.slideshare.net/learondalby Special Thanks to @Kirrilian for technical work