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RI-CHAMP is a digital dashboard that allows emergency managers to overlay hurricane and nor’easter prediction models onto data points across Rhode Island that mark critical

CLARA DECERBO ’18 Director Providence Emergency Management Agency Management Agency

infrastructure assets such as generators, transformers, roads, and pump facilities.

Emergency managers in Rhode Island and other coastal areas face mounting and interrelated environmental hazards such as flooding, hurricanes, storm surges, and sea level rise. To help decision-makers understand risks from these hazards and prevent or mitigate potential impacts, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Rhode Island (URI) and the Coastal Resources Center (CRC), in partnership with emergency managers across the state, has developed a new modeling tool to support strategic planning and response: Rhode Island Coastal Hazards, Analysis, Modeling & Prediction (RI-CHAMP). “We’re all concerned about climate change and the impact of extreme weather, and now we’re developing the advanced tools needed to understand future impacts,” says URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) Professor Isaac Ginis. He co-leads the RI-CHAMP team alongside URI Associate Professor Austin Becker, marine affairs, and CRC Pam Rubinoff, associate coastal manager and coastal resilience and extension specialist. The central product of RI-CHAMP is a digital dashboard that allows emergency managers to overlay hurricane and nor’easter prediction models

ISAAC GINIS Professor Graduate School of Oceanography

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