The Generalized Immersive Flood Information System (GIFIS) Specification defines a structured, extensible data model for representing, validating, and publishing hydrologic and geospatial datasets in immersive environments (VR/AR/MR).
It provides JSON Schemaβbased profiles for core entities such as locations, events, alerts, and flood maps.
- JSON Schemaβdriven validation for consistency and interoperability
- Support for geospatial formats (GeoJSON, 3D Tiles, glTF)
- Standardized metadata for hydrologic, meteorological, and sensor data
- Integration with alerting systems and flood forecast models
- Designed for real-time immersive visualization (VR/AR/MR)
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/uihilab/GIFIS.git
- Explore the JSON Schemas in:
src/gifis-core/1.0/ - Validate your data using tools like AJV: https://ajv.js.org/
- Contribute via pull requests and discussions
Below you can explore each schema in the GIFIS Specification.
Click on a section to expand details.
π 1. Core Schema
Defines the base structure all GIFIS objects inherit from.
Key Fields:
idβ Unique identifier (loc-123,evt-456)specVersionβ Namespace + version (gifis-core@1.0)schemaRefβ Canonical schema URLmetadataβ Creator, license, provenanceupdatedAtβ Timestamp
π File: core.schema.json
π 2. Location Schema
Represents geographic locations where hydrologic or meteorological events occur.
Includes:
geometryβ GeoJSON / 3D Tiles referencepropertiesβ Name, type, region, etc.- Extends Core Schema
π File: location.schema.json
π 3. Event Schema
Describes flood-related events such as rainfall, discharge, or inundation.
Includes:
eventTypeβ (rainfall, flood, storm surgeβ¦)timeRangeβ Start / End timelocationRefβ Link to Location object- Extends Core Schema
π File: event.schema.json
π¨ 4. Alert Schema
Represents hazard alerts tied to floods or hydrologic events.
Includes:
alertTypeβ Flood Watch / Flood Warning / Advisoryseverityβ Minor / Moderate / Majorareaβ Linked Location(s) or bounding geometryissuedAt&expiresAtβ Validity window
π File: alert.schema.json
πΊοΈ 5. Flood Map Schema
Defines geospatial flood map overlays for immersive visualization.
Includes:
geometryβ Polygon / Raster reference (GeoJSON, TIFF)propertiesβ Depth, extent, classificationtimestampβ When the map applies- Extends Core Schema
π File: floodmap.schema.json
core.schema.json provides the foundation for all GIFIS objects, defining identifiers, versioning, metadata, and update semantics.
This base schema ensures consistency and interoperability across all GIFIS profiles.
GIFIS includes several specialized profiles built on top of the Core Schema:
- Location β Representation of spatial entities with geometry and associated metadata
- Event β Definitions for flood-related events, their temporal spans, and descriptive metadata
- Alert β Hazard warnings and advisories linked to affected regions or locations
- Flood Map β Raster or vector (GeoJSON) overlays representing hazard extents for visualization and analysis
All schemas conform to JSON Schema Draft 2020-12.
You can validate the entire GIFIS specification using the GitHub workflow:
.github/workflows/validate-schemas.yml
This ensures that schema updates remain compliant and interoperable across all tools consuming GIFIS datasets.
Contributions are welcome!
Please open an issue or pull request.
For major changes, open an issue first so we can discuss your proposal and align it with the specification roadmap.
This project is licensed under the MIT License β see the LICENSE file for details.
This project is developed by the Tulane Hydroinformatics Lab: https://hydrointelligence.github.io/.
Mudiyanselage, U., Sajja, R., Sermet, Y., & Demir, I. (2025). GIFIS: A Generalized Immersive Flood Information System Specification