Mapping Wildfire Weather Data with Oracle APEX
- NexGen Technologies
- Sep 18
- 3 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
Background
Wildfire management depends on precise, real-time weather intelligence. Across the United
States, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, more than 3,000 Remote Automatic Weather Stations (RAWS) deliver continuous readings on temperature, humidity, wind, and fuel moisture. Operated by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) and its partners, RAWS are critical to understanding wildfire behavior, planning suppression strategies, and monitoring changing conditions.
The system also supports Incident Remote Automatic Weather Stations (IRAWS), which are autonomous, portable weather stations that provide near real time observational data. These mobile units have been vital during national emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 response, and large-scale wildfires.
In 2022, NIFC’s WX-Weather system was rebuilt using Oracle Application Express (APEX), a low-code platform embedded in every Oracle database. With its mix of automated web generation and customizable coding, APEX empowers developers to rapidly build enterprise-level applications that can scale from small devices to massive displays.
Challenge
While the modernization of NIFC’s WX-Weather system brought stability and new features, the way data was displayed still posed a problem. Fire managers, dispatchers, and incident teams needed a faster, more intuitive way to interpret weather station data during critical situations. Scrolling through static lists or spreadsheets made it difficult to spot outages, compliance gaps, or patterns across thousands of sites.
The RAWS Depot leadership set out to change this by envisioning an interactive, map-based interface that could make complex data immediately actionable. The tool needed to:
Show live status at a glance – quickly reveal which stations were online, offline, or out of compliance.
Support targeted decision-making – allow filtering by agency, station type, and compliance status.
Overlay wildfire context – display current incident data side-by-side with RAWS observations.
Work anywhere, on any screen – deliver seamless performance whether on a smartphone in the field, a desktop in a dispatch center, or a large HDTV in a command post.
Meeting these needs required more than out-of-the-box functionality. It demanded a balance between Oracle APEX’s low-code capabilities for rapid deployment and custom SQL and geospatial coding to achieve the flexibility, speed, and scalability wildfire response teams rely on.
Solution
Using Oracle APEX’s sample mapping applications as a foundation, NexGen developers customized a new WX-Weather map that meets operational and public needs:
Layered Pinpoint Display: Weather stations appear as green (compliant), red (maintenance needed), or blue (portable IRAWS). Wildfires appear as orange points with pop-up incident details.
Interactive Filters: Dropdowns, list boxes, and checkboxes allow users to tailor the map by agency, compliance, or fire data. APEX Collections handle temporary constraints to power these dynamic queries.
Responsive Design: The map maintains crisp resolution across devices—from mobile screens to wall-mounted monitors—supporting field and headquarters users alike.
Public Access: The map is open to the public, aligning with NIFC’s commitment to transparency and broad accessibility of fire weather data.
Conclusion
The WX-Weather Map demonstrates how Oracle APEX enables rapid delivery of mission-critical systems with minimal resources. By combining database expertise, web development, and business analysis in a single low-code platform, NexGen developers delivered a tool that empowers wildfire managers, supports firefighters, and informs the public. This success underscores the power of APEX to create enterprise-grade solutions—quickly, cost-effectively, and at scale.
About NexGen:
NexGen Technologies (NexGen) provides the people, processes, and solutions that help make innovative IT transformation possible across your systems and applications.
We specialize in delivering top-tier IT support services, specifically tailored for the unique needs of the federal government. Our dedicated team combines cutting-edge technology with deep industry expertise to ensure your projects meet the highest standards of quality and security.
For more details on NexGen, please contact NexGen at info@nexgeninc.com or (720) 377-1800.
