In an effort to help communities prepare better for climate change, Obama recently revealed the initiatives, one which include 3D mapping, and which can keep track of coastal erosion, landslide hazards and flood risks.
In meeting with the State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force for Climate Preparedness, Obama showed intent, in saying, “Climate change poses a direct threat to the infrastructure of America that we need to stay competitive in this 21st century economy. We should see this as an opportunity to do what we should be doing anyway, and that’s modernizing our infrastructure and making sure that they’re more resilient.”
This 3D mapping technology will be used by the U.S Geological Survey and costs about $13 million so as to develop advanced mapping that will help them find ideal sites for solar panels and wind turbines. This technology uses lidar which uses light from lasers to find the elevation of any spot.
Another application among several others for this technology is helping agriculture determine spots where they must use fertilizers or not. Yet another application is that it will help boost fuel economy since as it will support automated vehicle navigation too.
Quite separately, another Obama project has been launched with the objective of safeguarding the nation’s power supply in extreme weather conditions. For this, the Department of Agriculture intends to award about $263.3 million in grants so as to develop rural electricity infrastructure in about eight states.
This comes right on the heels of the Obama administration launching its data initiative which seeks to use the reach and expertise of universities, a number of US companies, private groups and the World bank.
One of these companies, Google, will create high-resolution mapping for the entire mainland of the United States.