The Oregon Hazards Explorer is a web-based, digital library housed at the Oregon State University Libraries. The web-portal is the result of a collaboration among various stakeholders including staff from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD); librarians and Oregon Explorer staff from the OSU Libraries; staff from the Institute for Natural Resources; financial support from  DLCD; and input from members of the Hazard/Preparedness Framework Implementation Team. Phase 1 of the portal was made public in June of 2009.

The project was started as a response to a key recommendation of a Needs Assessment conducted by the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience in 2005 to develop a one-stop data portal for hazard related data.  We confirmed with the Hazards Framework Implementation Team in 2008 that there was still a need for a one-stop portal for all hazard data in Oregon.

Features

The Oregon Hazards Explorer provides a forum to learn about natural hazards through data tools and archived research findings, and to access others involved in hazards. To provide this forum the Oregon Hazards Explorer features a unique variety of information, tools, resources, and functionality.

1. A "One-Stop-Shop" for local, state, and federal data
2. The ability for users to produce reports on known hazards for specific areas of interest
3. A repository for digitally archived hazard-related research
4. A compilation of additional resources related to natural hazard issues 

Acknowledgements 

Funding for Phase 1 development of the Oregon Hazards Explorer was provided by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  The site is hosted by OSU Libraries and INR.

Banner Photo Credit

Lightning on the Columbia River: Couresty of Ian Boggs on Flickr.com under an Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License. Taken in Astoria, Oregon on August 16, 2007.