Pattern Detection of 9-1-1 Calls
There is some very interesting research being done by UCSD and others, where 9-1-1 calls are being analyzed temporally and spatially to determine where there may be a larger incident threatening a community, combined with automatic targeted notification of residents and business that may be affected. (h/t Markus Sandy)
By combining the [9-1-1] call data with topographic images from Google Earth, researchers conducted a spatiotemporal analysis - relating both space and time together - of typical call activity in order to set parameters that would automatically alert viewers of abnormally high call rates. These 'hotspots', or clusters of activity within certain areas and within predetermined lengths of time, were then directly correlated to specific events in those areas such as an earthquake, explosion or fire.
